Coalition for Truth and Justice group says Benue people will reject any Benue governorship candidate who is being backed by Fulani groups.
Aloysius Gbakaan, In the statement he signed as the group’s National Coordinator, Aloysius Gbakaa, said the renewed killings in the state is a conquest conspiracy in high places by enemies of the state.
Ths statement reads: “The Coalition for Truth and Justice views the renewed killings by Fulani herdsmen terrorists in some parts of Benue State particularly in Kwande, Gwer West and Guma Local Government Areas as a reflection of the shameful and condemnable conspiracy in high places with the sole aim of sacking Benue communities for jihadists on conquest agenda to occupy the people’s ancestral lands.
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“We particularly note that the killer herdsmen are emboldened to sustain the spate of bloodletting against hapless citizens on the invitation of political saboteurs who are bent on trading the people for ephemeral pecuniary benefits and desperation for power.
“That these dastardly attacks are coming with renewed vigour, shortly after the Presidential and National Assembly elections in which the APC-led Federal Government that has never shown sincere commitment to ending the killings, still retained power against the will of majority of Nigerians, speaks to the height of impunity by the marauding invaders who apparently feel unchallenged as they are being pampered by the APC Government.
“We have it on good authority that some political actors of the APC extraction in Benue State who are aspiring for power have entered into a pact with the Fulani terrorists and their sponsors that if they take over the seat of government in the state, they will cede large spans of lands to the pastoralists to occupy.
“We recall that in the build-up to the February 25, 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections, there was a thick conspiracy by the Fulani oligarchy with collaborators from within to victimize Governor Samuel Ortom for vehemently resisting the occupation agenda of the invading herdsmen. Particularly realizing that Governor Ortom as Senator in the National Assembly would not have kept silent to watch Benue people being slaughtered and sacked from their ancestral lands, the APC manipulated the electoral process against the Governor just to stop him from getting into the Senate so as to have willing collaborators to continue having their way.
“As a conscience group, we note with disillusionment how virtually all political stakeholders in Benue State have abandoned Governor Samuel Ortom in the onerous and arduous task of seeking justice, equity and fairness for the defenceless citizens of the state who are weighed down by the devastating impact of these heinous killings. More disgusting is the fact that some stakeholders are playing politics with the despicable atrocities perpetrated against the people as they are even afraid to call out the perpetrators of these heinous crimes.
“While we condemn in strong terms the evil and injustice done to our people, we particularly urge Governor Ortom not to be weighed down by the conspiracy against him and his administration. He should continue to speak out for his people for even if he remains a lone voice, posterity will surely vindicate him as someone who never minced words while genocide was visited on Benue people by invaders at a time other Benue sons and daughters took sides with the oppressor and spit on the graves of those unjustly murdered in cold blood.
“Lastly, we call on the people of Benue State to reject the governorship candidate who has collected huge sums of money from Fulani and promised to deliver Benue into their hands if he is elected on March 11, 2023. This coming election is for our survival as a people. We must not make the mistake of giving power to a traitor who is already in bed with our enemy.”
