Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has been brought to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Hague, by Kautal Hore, commonly known as Miyetti Allah, over the alleged seizure of cows.
Saleh Alhassan, the National Secretary-General of the Fulani socio-cultural group, reportedly said this in response to the state’s Community Volunteer Guards’ official inauguration, according to Anaedoonline.ng.
Alhassan claimed in a statement on Friday that Governor Ortom would be held accountable for reportedly taking more than 25,000 cows belonging to the group members and imprisoning more than 4,000 herders.
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The Miyetti Allah said that Ortom, the governor of Benue, had violated the legal rights of Fulani herders in his state and that Ortom was well-known for taking Fulani herders’ cows.
He said: “He (Ortom) would go to Benue and Taraba states border communities and seize cows, making our members suffer. We don’t have herders in Benue. So, the livestock that he seized shows that he is part of the problem.
“He is destroying the economy of our people in the border states. We have raised that issue, prepared our documents and sued him before the International Criminal Court in Hague.
“We sued him for stealing our cattle in Nasarawa and Taraba border communities and for also detaining our innocent youths and dumping them in his dungeon because he is a governor.
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“He is not arresting herders for violating anti-open grazing law because there are no herders in Benue. The law which he assented to in his state Assembly stated that for a herder to function, there must be a ranch.
“Ortom has failed to provide a ranch for us. Let him finish all this wickedness. He will still leave and the herders in Nigeria will continue to exist, prosper and be better.”
Alhassan described Ortom as a failure, stressing that the Benue governor doesn’t have any developmental achievements to show after being in office for eight years.
He said: “I just pity the innocent people of Benue State. We have asked these people to investigate and probe the quantum amounts of security votes he (Ortom) has diverted from the state.
“He is a total failure and has seen failure staring at him in the face. After almost eight years, what are the developmental achievements he can present?
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“We have stopped taking him seriously with regards to governance. We are taking a number of legal actions against him. We have also written to the President (Muhammadu Buhari) for compensation.”
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