Miyetti Allah Not Above The Law On Open Grazing, Ortom Insists

The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has raised concerned over the recent media outing of the National President of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore (MAKH), Alhaji Abdullahi Bodejo, saying his utterances were inciting and direct invitation to anarchy in the country.
Bodejo, in his recent interview with a daily said, “you are a governor and you want to enjoy peace in your state, you don’t need any long meeting, just create a particular area for the Fulani and equip them with modern amenities.
“We are also insisting that Ortom should apologise to our organisation. He is looking for every avenue to justify his anti-grazing law. He should apologise to Fulani in Nigeria for killing them, for destroying their businesses and damaging our names.
“It is Ortom that should apologise for killing Fulani. The only thing we are fighting is the anti-open grazing law, we are in court and we will continue to pursue it in the court till we have victory. We are in court because we can’t allow that law to work.”
But in a swift reaction, yesterday, in Makurdi, the governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase called for the arrest and prosecution of the MAKH President for persistently making statements capable of stirring crises in the country.
The statement read in part, “the MAKH outing has confirmed the fact that the group is not only responsible for attacks on farming communities in parts of the country but is also determined to reject any method of animal husbandry that does not agree with nomadic cattle breeding and are poised to sponsor violence in states not willing to donate land for open grazing.
“Utterances such as those of Bodejo are inciting and direct invitation for anarchy. No group should be above the law to be dictating to states on how to accord preference to it at the expense of other Nigerians.
“Bodejo in the same media reports had singled out Governor Ortom for vilification, saying the Governor has been playing politics with the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law to win sympathy and gain advantage.”
The statement continues “We find the statement not only as a real threat to peace but also a prelude to another round of attacks on Benue communities by herdsmen militia.
“This is the same manner the group threatened in May, 2017, a few days after Governor Ortom signed the ranching law that they would mobilise their members across West Africa to invade Benue and resist implementation of the legislation.