Governor Ortom wants herdsmen bodies designated as terrorist groups too like bandits

GOVERNOR Samuel Ortom of Benue State has reiterated his call that the federal government include Fulani herdsmen bodies Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (Macban) and Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore on its list of terrorist organisations.

Last month the federal government won a high court ruling which gave it the right to designate armed bandits operating across northwest Nigeria as terrorists. An Abuja high court granted a request by the attorney-general of the federation Abubakar Malami, that all banditry outfits should be subject to dictates of anti-terrorist laws.

Benue State has borne the brunt of the activities of Fulani cattle herdsmen over recent years, with its villages incessantly attacked by the murderous and heavily armed pastoralists. Pointing out that these herdsmen cannot be exempt from the clampdown on terrorists, Governor Ortom said that Macban, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore and the Fulani Nationality Movement (Funam), must be on the list of such proscribed organisations.

Governor Ortom said: “I want to commend the federal government for being bold to designate bandits as terrorists. However, I call on the government to also include Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Macban and Funam in the category of terrorists, because those bandits are their members.”

He urged the people of Benue State to support security agencies with useful intelligence in the fight against criminality and other forms of insecurity, pointing out that security is everyone’s business. Governor Ortom has relentlessly campaigned for Fulani herdsmen to be brought to book for their crimes against rural farmers.