Benue cattle traders’ assassination: PDP, Gov. Alia feud over 7-day ultimatum to royal fathers

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Benue state and Governor Hyacinth Alia are at odds over the Governor’s seven-day ultimatum to traditional rulers in the state’s Kwande Local Government Area, LGA, to produce the armed men who recently attacked some cow traders in the area, killing two and leaving others missing.

The traders, who were members of the Cow Dealers Cooperative Society, Katsina-Ala chapter, were reported to be transporting cows, bags of rice, and live goats to the Eastern part of the country via Nyihemba community, where their truck fell and they were allegedly attacked by unknown assailants.

But addressing a peace meeting, at Jato-Aka Council Hall, where a delegation of the state government, stakeholders of the local government, and representatives of the Association, met to brainstorm on the matter, the Governor through the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Prof. Joseph Alkali, expressed sadness over the attack, and allegedly directed that the Chiefs who were custodians of the communities, produce the criminals suspected to be youths within the communities.

Reacting weekend to the seven days demand by the Governor, the PDP in a statement by the State Publicity Secretary, Bemgba Iortyom described as “biased and a double standard the ultimatum issued by Governor Alia to the traditional rulers.”

According to the PDP, Governor Alia in the statement through his Chief Press Secretary, “specifically and conclusively passed a verdict of guilt on the youths at Nyihemba area of Kwande as being responsible for an attack which allegedly occurred against traders in transit there, resulting in the deaths of two of the traders.

“The governor then handed down a seven-day ultimatum to traditional rulers in the domain where the said incident occurred demanding that they produce the youths whom he concluded were responsible for the alleged crime.

“PDP first and foremost condemns the unfortunate deaths of the two traders as it equally condemns the killings of hundreds of defenseless Benue people by armed herders and other terrorists.

“The party maintains that perpetrators of crime, terror and banditry should all be fished out and prosecuted under law, irrespective of their ethnicity, religious or political leaning, without discrimination on the basis of equality as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“PDP, therefore finds as contradictory the aplomb and fury with which Governor Alia has reacted to the alleged killing of the two traders, since it starkly contrasts his trademark deaf, dumb and blind posture over the repeated killings of innocent Benue men, women and children, even in that same Turan area by herdsmen since coming to office.

“The party recalls that this is the same governor who has kept sealed lips while bandits whom he openly confessed to having had a pact with during the campaigns and who he referred to as his ‘brothers in the bush’, have embarked on a wanton spree of killings and kidnappings, with one of their victims lately being the governor’s Commissioner for Information and Culture, Matthew Abo.

“Even when the Information Commissioner was kidnapped, which was the most audacious affront to Governor Alia’s authority as the Chief Security Officer of the state, there was no fire and fury from him as he is exhibiting at the alleged death of the two traders.

“PDP wonders what then informs this stark and shocking disparity in importance between the alleged death of the two traders on one hand, and the killing of hundreds of Benue people on the other, at the hands of herdsmen, terrorists and bandits, some of whom the governor has confessed to knowing, yet, has never issued any ultimatum to anyone about.

“The party is also curious to know by what method of investigation was Governor Alia able to conclusively determine within 24 hours the culpability of the youths of Nyihemba in the alleged attack against the traders.

“If Governor Alia all along possessed such a magic wand of investigation, how come he has failed to apply it to fish out killers of innocent Benue men, women and children and bring the same to book with the fury and determination he is applying to the isolated incident at Nyihemba?

“In the same Turan area where the governor is now issuing an ultimatum over the death of two traders, armed herdsmen have been on a relentless killing spree since his coming to office, and there exists in that area camps for persons displaced from such attacks, yet it hasn’t so far qualified for an ultimatum to anyone.

“It is in Turan that Fulani herdsmen have sacked and occupied an entire council ward known as Moon, and though this happened before him, it should rationally be expected that if Governor Alia is serious about addressing insecurity, he shouldn’t start with a crackdown on traditional rulers in Turan for the death of the two traders.
“We put it to Governor Alia that under his reign Benue people have become used to the blanket of silence and blindness which he has cast over killings, kidnappings and other such crimes in the state, as such his fist of fury being brandished at helpless traditional rulers in Kwande reflects bias and a double standard.

“PDP cautions Governor Alia against taking the docility of Benue people for foolishness with this ultimatum to the people of Kwande, as it amounts to rubbing salt into the gaping wounds of herdsmen atrocities in that area and elsewhere in the state.

“If and when the Benue State Governor decides to tackle insecurity in the state seriously, he will do well to get to the root of the problem and not skim the surface with such offensive bias and double standards as this ultimatum to the traditional rulers of Kwande represents.”

But reacting to the PDP posturing, Governor Alia through his Chief Press Secretary, Tersoo Kula, in a statement insisted that he is not given to propaganda but serious about securing the state and ridding it of criminal elements.

The statement noted that “this is also the basis for which he gave marching orders to both security operatives and traditional rulers to ensure that the criminals who attacked and murdered two Katsina-Ala based cattle traders are hounded down and brought to justice.

“The allegation by the PDP that it was Fulani herders that were attacked and killed is patently false and a figment of its blurry imagination which is obviously a decoy to mislead the unsuspecting public.

“The public is hereby urged to disregard such bland and blanket falsehood as the usual antics of the PDP drawn from its familiar tone.

“It bears stating abundantly for the avoidance of doubt that no Fulani herders was among the two traders that were unfortunately killed by criminals.

“This is where it behooves the public to ask the PDP to not only stop their Nazi-style propaganda but to always seek to verify facts before setting out to mislead the public with their known fact-free and concocted fiction primarily aimed at stoking the embers of hate and sparking ethnic tensions.

“Even during the PDP led administration that was only known for propaganda and eye service, a similar ultimatum was issued by their leader, Samuel Ortom, on the traditional rulers in Ado LGA, after a delegation from Ebonyi State were attacked on their way back from Benue after a peace meeting.

“If the party can recall, Ortom had given a seven-day-ultimatum to Traditional rulers in the area, including the District Head of Agila Chiefdom of Ado Local Government Area to within seven days, fish out the killers.

“Was the governor at the time biased for issuing such an ultimatum on the traditional rulers? Was the state more secured at the time as it is now?

“Governor Alia has opted to lead from the front with a proactive governance approach to the menace of insecurity in the state and as such, the PDP should have some sense of shame and stop gloating over the spectre of insecurity in the state as it was right on its watch that insecurity was mishandled thereby making it to metastasize and spiral into the hydra-headed problem it is at the moment.

“It has to be clearly stated that what happened at Nyihemba was purely a criminal act and the perpetrators must be punished to serve as a deterrent to others.

“It is therefore mischievous for the PDP to conflate issues and cast the incident as though it was an assault targeted at cattle traders.

“Does the PDP therefore imply that since Benue people are being killed on their farms and villages, reprisal attacks are now okay and anybody including travellers and innocent citizens be indiscriminately attacked and killed just for passing through or doing business in the state?

“There should be a limit to propaganda, and Alia’s government will not play politics with the lives of Benue people.

“The state cannot be allowed to descend into a state of anarchy where impunity and lawlessness reign supreme. The recent past where everything goes in Benue is over, and over for good.

“Let it be known to all that Governor Alia will not surrender the state to criminal gangs, and he will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that Benue enjoys maximum security.

“The PDP should not encourage and cheer up some bad eggs to resort to the same criminal activities the Alia led administration is fighting to put a stop to in the state. The State government will not shield them because they are indigenes of the state. Every form of crime committed in the state will be treated with the same tenacity

“A warning is hereby sounded to all criminal gangs to leave the shores of the state before it is too late as they will be mopped up soon.”