Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has described a former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, as an ‘agent of Miyetti Allah’ sponsored along with others to persistently stir crisis in Benue to ensure the failure of the state’s Open Grazing and Ranches Establishment Law.
Ortom who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase in a reaction to the interview Tsav granted Saturday Sun of August 18, 2018, said the former Lagos State police commissioner has not hidden his opposition to the enactment of the law which he believes was made to prevent herdsmen from accessing any part of the state for their livestock to freely graze.
He recalled how, in the heat of the Benue killings, Abubakar Tsav had visited one of the gory scenes in the state where tens of people were slaughtered but returned with a claim that he only saw dead cows and not dead people.
“Abubakar Tsav has not hidden his hatred towards hundreds of innocent souls Benue has lost as a result of Fulani herdsmen attacks. Here is a man who went to a location where there was a fresh attack and came back to say that he could only see slaughtered cows and not human beings. In other words, Tsav is one of those who value the life of a cow more than that of a fellow human being.
“He is one of those working for the actualization of cow republic in the Benue Valley. They are in a hurry to see the enthronement of Ardos as rulers of Benue communities”, Mr Akase emphasized.”
Akase alleged that since after Governor Ortom signed the law, Abubakar Tsav had been holding secret meetings with Miyetti Allah groups where they resolved that Governor Ortom should be made a target of all forms of media attacks to pressurize him to suspend the law.
He said Tsav was acting in collaboration with other sons of the state who are also part of the grand plot to deprive the people of their ancestral lands.
The CPS alleged further that Tsav recently visited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) headquarters Abuja as one of the lead petitioners from the state whom the commission is using to raise fictitious claims of misappropriation of funds.
He described as curious, Tsav’s latter day praise of the Senator representing Benue North West against whom Tsav wrote several petitions while the Senator served as Governor of the state.
On Abubakar Tsav’s claims that Governor Ortom has not performed well, the Chief Press Secretary dismissed the insinuation as empty ranting of a man who only recently apologized to Governor Ortom and the people of the state that he had been telling lies against the Governor.
“It will be recalled that Abubakar Tsav earlier this year, wrote a public apology stating that he had been falsely accusing Governor Ortom of fraud and bad performance. He pleaded never again to write or say anything against the Governor.
“Tsav’s 360 degrees turn to launch verbal attacks on the Governor has therefore left many observers wondering his level of integrity and honour as an elder,” Akase said.