Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue is fondly called the people’s Governor.
At inauguration, he met a lingering ethnic crisis he inherited from the previous administration in the state.
To tackle this, he launched an Amnesty Agenda to grant state pardon for the offences committed in the past. Time Nigeria correspondents in Benue, Akume Raphael and Abraham Uwuasom, write on the Ortom’s peace mission initiative in the state and the quest to arrest the persistent violence in the state.
Governor Samuel Ortom on 29th of May after taking the oath of office in his inaugural speech declared amnesty to people in possession of illegal weapons. The amnesty was initially targeted to cover a period of three months before its recent extension by four weeks.
The governor was committed to reducing crime and thuggery and by implication to creating an enabling environment for growth and development to thrive, thus paving way for interested investors to come to the state to do good business.
The amnesty the governor proposed was going to be hinged on a “carrot and stick” approach meaning, those in possession of illegal weapons will be allowed a grace period of three months to surrender same and get integrated into the society, failure to which the stick approach would be applied.
According to the amnesty plan, those who submit such weapons either through the office of the Special Adviser on Security or church leaders were to be compensated with cash depending on the sophistication of their weaponry.
Three months into the life of the amnesty programme, over 100 weapons according to sources have so far been surrendered, the latest being from one Terwase Agwaza, aka “Ghana”, believed to be the most notorious militant in the state.
“Ghana” only a few weeks ago submitted over 80 assorted weapons of various types at the Benue Peoples House Makurdi. Agwaza shortly after submitting the weapons told journalists that his decision to lay down his arms was sequel to the intervention by the governor and other religious leaders in the state.
He pledged his commitment towards the amnesty programme, assuring that he was going to work in close collaboration with government with a view to seeing that those still in possession of illegal arms were made to submit same.
Given the need to properly secure the state from external aggression especially at the boarder axis, the governor only recently took yet another giant step by initiating a Joint Security Council meeting with Taraba State to seek for ways on how to put to rest the constant violence between the Tivs and their Jukun brothers on one hand and Fulani herdsmen on the others. The meeting which had in attendance Governor Dairus Ishaku of Taraba State, the Aku Uka of Wukari, the Tor Tiv, Afread Torkula and the Oche Idoma, Dr Elias Ikoyi Obekpa, was also attended by leaders of Fulani, Jukuns as well as Tiv communities.
The peace meeting which lasted for several hours came out with the following resolutions as contained in a communiqué that was read out by the Benue state governor, Samuel Ortom;
That the two states have resolved to live in peace with one another, that the amnesty programme covers all those with illegal arms in Benue and Taraba states and urges such youths to surrender same to the various concerned authorities, there shall be a joint military and police patrol along the border areas to forestall security breaches, that traditional rulers in the two states should put in place measures that are aimed at promoting peaceful coexistence in their chiefdoms, that measures should be put in place towards providing succour to victims of crises in the area as well as ensure their return to their permanent places of abode, that the two states should establish agro-based industries to absorb the teeming unemployed youths in the various states, among others.
However, these efforts by the Benue Chief Executive have continued to spark reactions from a cross section of the Benue community, with a vast majority of those who spoke to Time Nigeria describing the peace efforts as commendable.
In a chat with our correspondent in Makurdi, a public affairs commentator Mr. Linus Akaahan said the efforts were in the best interest of the state. He chided those who were having contrary views saying, instead, the governor should be encouraged in that direction.
” This is a wonderful initiative and I would rather implore the people to rise up in support of it rather than been pessimistic about it.” Akaahan stated.
Speaking in the same vein, Comrade Kwamamde Kwamande applauded the peace initiative by the Benue state governor. Kwamande, who is also the National Auditor of the Nigerian Civil Service Union, however, expressed worry that some segments in the state were still adamant in embracing the amnesty programme.
He called on government to descend heavily on those who are not willing to embrace the programme on its expiration, revealing that such actions were fast breeding suspicions amongst people in the communities that have surrendered their weapons.
In an interview with reporters in Makurdi recently, a retired Commissioner of Police and elder statesman, Ahaji Abubakar Tsav, took a swipe at the amnesty programme even as he described it as a ploy by Ortom to shield armed youths he used in prosecuting his elections from justice.
The Federal Commissioner, Public Complaint Commission, called on security agencies to immediately effect the arrest of those youths who have surrendered their weapons for onward prosecution.
But in a swift reaction to Tsav’s accusations, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Samuel Ortom on Special Security, Hon Denen Igbana, described the allegations as baseless.
Igbana, in an exclusive interview with Time Nigeria in Makurdi counseled the elder statesman to desist from the habit of pulling down his younger brothers in government.
” People of Abubakar Tsav’s experience elsewhere are rather proffering solutions to nagging issues in their state and not unwarranted criticism, ” he told Time Nigeria.
With the embracing of the amnesty programme by Mr. Agwaza popularly called “Ghana” there seemed to be a growing concern, especially amongst people living around the Taraba border area, of renewed attacks on their villages. This was informed from the fact that the militant leader whose activities were said to also cover a vast part of Taraba state was also viewed as a protector of the land against external aggressors.
The amnesty moves by the governor became imperative owing to the spate of insecurity that pervaded the state shortly on his assumption of office.
Sankera, a geo-political bloc in Benue North East Senatorial District became more notorious in these acts of cruelty according to investigation.
Over 20 persons were gruesomely murdered in a period of two weeks according to police sources, with Chief Atoza Hindan, an elder statesman and Second Republic lawmaker being the latest casualty.
He was murdered in cold blood by suspected armed youths while inspecting work on a perimeter fence at the outskirts of Katsina Ala town. Mr Akwaza is also from this axis.
However with the peace initiative by Ortom and embraced by his Taraba State counterpart, it is fervently believed that the move will not only put paid to issues of criminality in Benue but will also put to rest the constant crises between the Tiv and Jukun of Taraba as well as the incessant Fulani herdsmen /Tiv farmers violence in both states.
