From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
The President General of Mzough-U-Tiv (MUT), CP Iorbee Ihagh (retd) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the killings in the state or the people would resort to self-defence.
Ihagh made the call on Tuesday against the backdrop of the attack on the Abagana IDP camp by gunmen suspected to be herdsmen who stormed the camp and fired shots killing seven people and injuring others.
‘The message I am sending to the President is that enough is enough. The killings in Benue is enough. Let him do something about it. If not we are going to react. Even though we don’t have AK-47, we will do what we did in 1804 during the Jihad war,’ he said.
The MUT President General noted that ‘Nigeria is on a life support now and if nothing is done, anything can happen. If President Muhammadu Buhari doesn’t take action on what is happening now, then he doesn’t want Nigeria to be one because everybody is fed up.
‘When Ortom started this they thought it was only Benue, but now it’s everywhere. The Igbo, the Yoruba, and even the Hausa are all fed up. Even the President’s home state is also affected. The other time he went home and 250 students were kidnapped in his state. So, he is not in control.’
While blaming the President for not acting seriously enough to tame the high level of insecurity in the country, Ihagh advised: ‘Let him quickly help the country if not, Nigeria is gone.
‘They’ve been killing the Tiv farmers and the Benue farmers everyday and he hears all these things yet he has not done anything about it.
‘So, as President General of Mzough-U-Tiv, I’m calling on him and the Chief of Army Staff to quickly come and send the herdsmen out so that the Benue farmers can go and farm and feed Nigerians because we are the food basket of this country and we cannot go to farm now because once you are there, you can be killed by herdsmen and nobody says anything.’
Ihagh wondered why the leaders of Miyetti Allah have continued to enjoy special protection from the federal government to the detriment of leaders of other tribes.
‘Miyetti Allah leaders are over there in Abuja and say anything and and they are never arrested but if an Igbo man is calling for Biafra they get them arrested. So, what is he talking about?’