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Tor Tiv tasks Buhari on visit to appease victims, Makarfi urges arrest of culprits

By Joseph Wantu (Makurdi) and Saxone Akhaine (Kaduna)
11 January 2018   |   2:05 am
The paramount ruler of Tiv nation, Prof. James Ayatse, says only the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari could appease those who lost their loved ones to the massacre. Addressing newsmen in Gboko, the Tor Tiv reminded Buhari that Benue people voted massively for him at the 2015 polls and, it behooves on him, to identify…

James Ayatse

The paramount ruler of Tiv nation, Prof. James Ayatse, says only the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari could appease those who lost their loved ones to the massacre.

Addressing newsmen in Gboko, the Tor Tiv reminded Buhari that Benue people voted massively for him at the 2015 polls and, it behooves on him, to identify with them.

His words: “We need to see Mr. President’s visit to comfort us. Yes, he has sent his Minister of Interior, the DIG of Police but I feel Mr. President has to come himself to justify that Benue people voted for him.

“There is difference between going yourself and sending somebody. The picture will not be the same. Even if he comes and spend 10 minutes, we will feel better.

“When he comes himself, his whole being will be here and the impact on the people will be greater than sending representatives.”

The monarch, dressed in his mourning regalia, described the attacks as “barbaric’, a calculated and coordinated genocide on the Tiv nation.”

He accused Buhari of negligence and being too slow in responding to earlier warnings given by Governor Samuel Ortom, even as the Tor Tiv expressed disappointment at efforts by the Federal Government to quell the killings.

The Tor Tiv went on: “The Federal Government has made some efforts but I will be deceiving myself if I say am satisfied with the interventions. For the Inspector General of Police, Idris Ibrahim, to describe the attacks as communal clash was unfair. We do not share border with Fulani so why would anyone say that it is a communal clash?

“Anarchy and impunity have taken over our country.  I hope with the coming of the IGP, we will see more seriousness. If they (hersdsmen) stop killing my people, then I will know the Federal Government is serious.”

On the proposed establishment of colonies by the government, the royal father said the practice was alien, especially to an area where the people are not cattle rearers but had an existing law.

Meanwhile, former caretaker national chairman of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has sought the immediate arrest of the perpetrators of the dastardly act.

Condemning the attacks yesterday in a statement, the erstwhile two-term governor of Kaduna State urged the Federal Government to effectively secure the nation against future aggressions.

In his condolences to the governors and people of Taraba, Rivers and Benue states, Makarfi called for concerted measures to contain the menace, which he noted, was sending a wrong signal to the sustenance of national peace and stability.

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