BEVERLY HILLS, March 22, (THEWILL) – The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum has raised an alarm over this weekend’s attack at his farm of Benue State’s Governor Samuel Ortom, warning that the country would burn should harm befall him.
President Muhammadu Buhari, meanwhile, described the attack as unacceptable, saying, however, that it should not be politicised.
He wants anyone linked to the threat to Ortom to be apprehended and brought to book.
The Governor, who has been vociferous in condemning the incessant killing of Benue citizens by Fulani herdsmen, was attacked while visiting his private farm outside the state capital.
A gang of 15 gunmen, suspected to be Fulanis, rained gunshots at him; and he barely escaped by the assistance of his vigilant six-member security detail after he fled on foot for over a kilometre.
The opposition governors jointly issued their warning on Sunday in a statement titled “Attempt On Governor Ortom, An Invitation To Anarchy: Enough Is Enough,” signed by the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State.
“The PDP-Governors Forum has received with shock the assassination attempt on the Governor of Benue State, H.E. Dr Samuel Ortom.
“We wish therefore to warn that any attempt to harm any Nigerian will be viewed by the Forum as an attempt on all of us.
“We believe strongly that any dispute or perceived dispute should be and must be resolved amicably without resorting to violence. Nigeria is not a banana republic, even though certain retrogressive elements and centrifugal forces are trying to consign Nigeria into a failed state.
“It remains the primary responsibility of the government, especially the Federal Government, who have monopoly of the coercive forces of state, to secure the lives and livelihoods of our people, however low or high. Every Nigerian deserves equal protection of the laws.
“Every citizen is entitled to freedom of speech and free exercise of all rights guaranteed in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, subject only to law.
“Nigeria is still a democracy and a nation of laws and not men.
“Nobody, or group however highly placed should take the laws into their hands, even though some highly placed Federal Government ministers seem to have surrendered to the nefarious activities of miscreants and mischief makers, bent on destabilising the nation. Self help is an invitation to anarchy and must be nipped in the bud.
“The PDP GOVERNORS are solidly united and are behind His Excellency, Governor Dr Samuel Ortom, and will do the utmost to defend the rights and prerogatives of the Benue people who elected him.
“We expect the security agencies and other authorities of state to investigate this matter swiftly and thoroughly and bring the perpetrators to justice. Enough is clearly enough.”
The President’s statement issued by his Senior Assistant on Media, Mallam Garba Shehu, read;
“In expressing his sympathies, and that of the government of the Federation to Governor Ortom and all Benue indigenes, President Buhari said the unfortunate incident must not be politicised, reiterating that an attack on one Nigerian is an attack on all Nigerians.
“The President directed the Police to undertake a thorough investigation into the incident involving the Governor and into all such incidents affecting individuals and communities in the state.
“Let there be an open and transparent investigation; and whoever is linked to it should be caught and be made to face the law.”
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