Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has stated that the setting up of the presidential committee on farmers-herders crisis was step in the right direction.
The governor said this when he played host to members of the committee led by Maj.-Gen. Musa Ibrahim of the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, at the Government House, in Makurdi, on Thursday.
The governor described the committee as a better initiative than the earlier utterances by the Minister of Defence on the Benue killings which to a large extent injured the sensibilities of people of the state.
Governor Ortom also commended the Nigerian Military for the activities of the Operation WHIRL STROKE (OPWS), saying that since its coming on board, effort to restore normalcy to the state had been made possible which had some internally displaced persons return to their ancestral homes.
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He insisted that the Benue Anti-Open Grazing law was not in any way targeted at anyone or ethnic group but a way of improving the well being of nomads who may not necessarily be of Fulani ethnic nationality.
The governor, who restated the commitment of his administration to its ranching law, expressed the hope that the committee would do justice to its findings.
Earlier in a remark, Chairman of the presidential committee on farmers-herders crisis, Gen. Ibrahim said they were in Benue State on the directive of the Minister of Defence to reassess the situation and report back.
Geen. Ibrahim also expressed the readiness of the committee to interact with farmers in the state with a view to taking a positive decision in the end.