James Ortese Iorzua Ayatse, the Tor Tiv and chairman of the Benue State Council of Traditional Rulers, on Saturday, February 3, 2018, condemned the mob action that led to the death of seven Fulani men in Gboko, Benue State.
He furthered described the act as “barbaric and completely uncalled for” and stated that those who carried out such actions had no mandate of the Tiv Nation, but rather acted as enemies of the people to deliberately add to the persecution of the Tiv.
The paramount ruler condemned the miscreants for taking the law into their hands rather than allowing the security agencies to act on any perceived security infraction in the area.
He therefore warned youths in his domain to refrain from posting or acting on fictitious alarms on the social media platforms which have tended to heighten tension, thereby worsening the fragile security challenges in the state.
In a statement released through Freddie Adambge, the monarch’s special assistant on media, the monarch charged his subjects to be law-abiding citizens no matter the level of provocation from the enemies of Tiv nation, saying the “two wrongs cannot make a right.”
While commiserating with the families of victims, the Tor Tiv commended the Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom and security agencies for the prompt actions taken by them to forestall the worsening of the crisis which would have led to more loss of life and property.
He restated his call on the Federal Government to expedite action in taming the persistent and ongoing annihilation of innocent Tiv farmers in Benue, Nassarawa, Taraba and other states and indeed other Nigerians.
The monarch expressed confidence in the ability of the Federal Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari to address the security challengers in the country.
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