₦airaland Forum

ychris:
AWON SCIENCE STUDENT....

Enemyofpeace:
na small small I dey suck my own o,I am not like lala

Enemyofpeace:
stop egboning me,I am still a baby sucking breasts

Enemyofpeace:
just because he asked a simple and innocent question?

Centyakam:
what a time to be alive...

Pubichairs:
she go fit open her legs for bed at all?

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has asked those saying that he is talking too much about the killing of his people by herdsmen to give him justice. He vowed that only justice can make him keep quiet on the matter.

This is even as the governor has confirmed that two persons, including a policeman, were killed while several others missing after herdsmen attacked his Guma Local Government Area of the state between Wednesday and early hours of Thursday.

In the words of Governor Ortom, “People who are saying that I am talking too much should give me justice and I will keep quiet. These people are not just grazing but are coming to take over our land. And they want me to keep quiet. How can I keep quiet? As long as there is no justice, I will continue to shout, talk and sing.”

The governor, who played host to former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, at the Government House, in Makurdi, on Thursday, disclosed that even up till now, Benue State is still under siege as the killings had continued unabated despite the deployment of security to flash-points in the state.

The governor continued, “As I talk to you, Benue is still under siege. Even security agents that were sent are being killed by these people. Only yesterday, somebody from my local government was slaughtered and burnt. That is the new dimension to the killings.”

Governor Ortom, who lamented that the attack was happening at the time the farmers were harvesting their crops, however, maintained that the onslaught was not just about land for grazing but a coordinated attack to impoverish the people and ensure that the state did not live up to its name as the food basket of the nation.

“Benue remains the food basket of the nation. This is happening at a time the farmers are harvesting their crops. We look forward that the resolution of the senate would be implemented. These people are not just grazing but are coming to take over our land.”

Earlier, Sen. Kwankwaso, who led members of his Kwankwasiya Foundation to pay a condolence visit to the state government and people of Benue State, condemned the January 1 attack in which over 70 people were killed.

According to Kwankwaso, “We are here to condole with the government and entire people of the state over the loss of 73 people. I join the good people of the country to condemn those who perpetuated the killings and similar acts in Nasarawa, Taraba, Adamawa and other states of the country. I believe it’s time leaders join hands to condemn the act and ensure such acts doesn’t happen again in the country.”

Kwankwaso, who also announced a donation of 1,200 bags of rice to the over 80,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who are now placed in six camps in the state, also urged the Federal Government and security agencies to ensure that the unwarranted killings across the country is stopped.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

In a defiant tone Thursday, the Federal Government blamed the passage of anti-open grazing law in some states as the cause of the recent killings by herdsmen in some of the states.

The government has been accused of bias in its handling of the crisis, with critics asking why perpetrators of the violence have not been arrested.

Benue governor, Samuel Ortom, whose state has suffered the latest bout of bloodletting, said two weeks ago that he informed the federal government of planned attacks by herdsmen, yet the state received no protection.

In its latest reaction Thursday, the government did not blame the attackers responsible for at least 72 deaths this year. It said the decision of some states to enact laws to stop open grazing triggered the violence.

It also said the “remote” cause of the violence was the violation of areas demarcated over the years as grazing reserves.

Benue, Taraba and Ekiti are some of the states where the anti-open grazing law has taken effect.
The laws were enacted after several states suffered deadly violence often blamed on herdsmen.

Hundreds of Nigerians were killed in the first two days of this year in some of these clashes in Benue and Taraba states.
The Benue State government organised a mass burial on January 12 for 72 of the victims of the killings in Logo and Guma local government areas of the state.

Speaking on the plans by the federal government to check the deadly clashes between farmers and herders, the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, said the anti-open grazing law sparked off the clashes.

Mr. Dan-Ali, who was briefing State House correspondents at the end of a meeting of security chiefs with President Muhammadu Buhari, urged Nigerians to learn to accept foreigners in their areas.

He also said it is illegal for state governments to set up and arm forest guards.

“Whatever crisis that happened at any time, there has to be remote and immediate causes,” the minister said.
“What are the remote causes of this farmers/herders crisis? Since Independence, we know there used to be a route whereby these cattle rearers use.

“Cattle rearers are all over the nation, you go to Bayelsa, you see them, you go to Ogun, you see them. If those routes are blocked, what happens? These people are Nigerians, it’s just like you going to block river or shoreline, does that make sense to you?

“These are the remote causes. But what are the immediate causes? It is the grazing law. These people are Nigerians, we must learn to live together with each other, that is basic.
“Communities and other people must learn how to accept foreigners within their enclave, finish!” he said.

Mr. Dan-Ali faulted the decision by some states to set up and arm forest guards, saying it is illegal.
He said fully armed militia were arrested in some states, adding that killings were from all sides.

To check the crisis, the minister said the quarterly security meeting with President Buhari decided to set up a commission on small arms proliferation in the country.
He said the decision was “in compliance with the presidential directive for the establishment of National Commission on the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons in the country.”

He said the Ministry of Defence, in conjunction with the office of the National Security Adviser, “has set up a committee to work out modalities to transform the Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons, PRESCOM, to a National Commission”.

He said the committee will be inaugurated Thursday at the office of the NSA.

Mr. Dan-Ali also said the meeting discussed the issue of the purchase of “Super Tucano” aircraft from the United States of America, USA.

He said the meeting discussed the terms and conditions of the purchase “and agreed that the conditions are a bit stringent”.

He said the meeting resolved that the Defence Minister and the NSA should meet with the USA Ambassador to Nigeria to review some of the conditions.

He said the cost of the aircraft is $494 million, including for training and maintenance capabilities.

“However, deadline for the payment was given as February 20, this year,” he said.

The Defence Minister said the meeting discussed “some of the issues at hand, that is the farmers/herders crisis, which the IG gave full details”.

Mr. Dan-Ali said the formation of the commission on small arms proliferation is one of the key measures being taken to curb the wanton killings in the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari, Thursday met with six State Governors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The Governors who met with the President include, Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State (PDP), Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State (PDP), Simeon Lalong of Plateau State (APC), Abdulaziz Yari of Kebbi State (APC), Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State (APC) and Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State (APC).

The meeting started shortly after security Chiefs finished their meeting with the President that lasted several hours.

Buhari’s Personal Assistant on New Media, Bashir Ahmad confirmed the meeting on his Twitter handle.

He wrote, “After presiding over a Security Meeting earlier, President @MBuhari is now holding a meeting with some members of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) led by its Chairman, Gov. Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State.”

Recall that some Northern governors had recently endorsed Buhari for a second term after a meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Details later…

Watermelonman:
If i no try this kitchen stool sex tonight make I bend. my carpenter just delivered a brand new one now.

And why has somebody not been kind enough to upload the damn video on xvideos,com. meh, I have been looking for it with all manner of keywords.

The Senate wednesday advocated the impeachment of any president and governors who do not act in line with their constitutional mandates.

Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe (Abia PDP) said this while contributing to the debate on a bill seeking to prescribe punishments for acts and conducts that are undemocratic by elected officials and persons.

Expressing opposition to the bill, Abaribe argued that impeachment is already prescribed in the constitution, adding that there are further consequences for non performing officials at the polls.

“This is a very difficult bill to pass. Elections have consequences. When you choose in an election, you must be able to accept the consequence of that choice you have made. Nigerians chose APC, they must live with the consequence of that. Nobody can wake up now and tell us that some people are undemocratic, we know that therefore but they are going to suffer the consequence of their misdeeds in office with another election.

“That means we actually do not need this bill to punish those that are undemocratic. The way to punish them is to make sure that they don’t come back to office. That is the only way and of course if you are in office and you commit a crime the consequence of the crime is also there, it is up to the executive to do the needful using the institutions that are available,” Abaribe added.

“The penalty is there in the constitution. If a president refuses to act, then impeach him. There is no other thing you need to do,” he added.

His position which elicited laughter from the lawmakers, did not go down well with Senate Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan, who cited a point of order to the effect that Abaribe has strayed away from the subject being debated.

Lawan accused Abaribe of casting aspersions on the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the president.
Senate President Bukola Saraki agreed with Lawan.

Abaribe however cited a portion of the lead debate presented by Na’Allah who quoted former United States President, Richard Nixon, as saying ‘if you dodge from your responsibilities, you cannot escape the consequences.”

“What does the law say about consequences of dodging from your responsibility? I was simply explaining that. Let me withdraw that of the president and say any governor that leaves his responsibility should be impeached,” Abaribe said.

Meanwhile, the South-east Senate Caucus has said its fears on the manner of administration of Nigeria by President Muhammadu Buhari have been confirmed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, particularly regarding the lopsided appointments.
The leader of the caucus, Abaribe, in a statement issued yesterday, said the caucus had issued several warnings on the nepotic appointments, but was largely ignored.

“What is happening? What former President Obasanjo said is what we have said and predicted long ago. No one should be surprised over what is happening or the shape of the political appointments made by President Buhari,”

“To be fair to him, the president made himself clear during his state visit to the United States of America, with his now unfortunate theory of 95 percent and 5 percent reward for support. The whole thing has come to bear negatively on the entire country and every body is now shouting but we predicted what is going on,” the statement read.

Abaribe said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) may have deliberately chosen to run a government which alienates a sizeable portion of its people and promotes exclusivity, unlike the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which ran an all inclusive government.
The statement read further in part:

“For any party, there should not be any political barrier or alienation of any constituent part, because after elections, the president is the president and father of all Nigerians irrespective of the political leaning,”

“My hunch is that the appointments so far, which have surreptitiously thrown up the prevailing circumstance, have failed to encourage our people’s hunger and quest to build a nation state out of a heterogeneous Nigeria. The appointments, as they were, do not also support the effort to weave a more cohesive country that would metamorphose into a nation where unity and love will prevail.”

“The founding fathers of our country had this in mind when the notion of ‘federal character’ was inscribed in the constitution and a commission created for that purpose. That a president of elder statesman status would willfully breach this fibre that holds this country together is highly regrettable.

“Well, my take is that ‘it is a Buhari country,’ it is the reality, so he can play around with his choice as his mind and conscience direct him. After all, he did not win election in the South-east and South-south and yet he became president, therefore, the South should be orphaned for not voting for him. Perhaps that is the stark reality that the people of the South in Nigeria should face.

“There is an idiom in Igbo language that says: “20, years or more is not eternity.” The Buhari government will also come to an end one day.

“Nonetheless, it could have been good and politically expedient if President Buhari sees himself as president of Nigeria, which is the hallmark of a statesman and not that of president of a section of the country.”

jeroba1:
thunder fire tinubu.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has detained the immediate past Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, for alleged fraud to the tune of N223m, The PUNCH can confirm.

It was learnt that Lawal arrived at the Abuja office of the EFCC around 11am on Wednesday after which he was detained.

When contacted on the telephone, the acting Spokesman for the EFCC, Mr. Samin Amaddin, confirmed Lawal’s arrest to our correspondent.

Details later…

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

hucienda:
All of a sudden, Obasanjo's letters have become a 'pain-in-the-arse' to the folks who sang its praises last time out?

Sagay and the likes, you can't have your cake and eat it too. One remembers the fictitious 'sniper list' amongst others in the previous letter season by same Obasanjo to the previous administration and how the current administration then in opposition 'rejoiced' with it.

Anyone who does not have convenient, selective political amnesia will recall this statement made by one of them -
["I am number seven on the GEJ (Goodluck Ebele Jonathan) sniper list, so I will only worry when GMB (General Muhammadu Buhari), Asiwaju (Tinubu), Amaechi, Akande, etc, are killed”.]

They ran to press with it whether they knew it true or false forgetting, as President JFK once remarked, that ...

"Those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside its belly".

sarrki:
I may not be happy with the performance of Mr president

But know one should deny him his fundamental rights of the right to contest or to be voted for

If you aren't scared of him why asking him not to contes

The Federal Government has earmarked N5.30 billion on national grazing reserve development in the 2018 budget which is being considered by the National Assembly.

The budget is coming at a time when the country is grappling with herdsmen and farmers clashes, leaving scores of people dead, homeless, especially in Benue, Taraba and Ekiti states.

Meanwhile, the 19 northern states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has kicked against the Federal Government’s plan to establish cattle colonies for Fulani herdsmen across the country.

CAN noted that if government goes ahead with the plan, it means that government knows the killers in Benue and other parts of the country.

However, speaking in an interview with Daily Sun, Public Relations Officer of northern CAN, Reverend Joseph Hayab said provision of cattle colony was like putting the horse before the cart.

“The issue of cattle colony will not address the killings because why are those people killing? If you provide them with cattle colony, will they stop the killing? The killings will not stop because you have not removed evil from the heart of a man and you are providing him with colony.

“Now, whose land are you going to take and provide the colony? It is when the right thing is done that the people can now sit down and talk, dialogue before we even begin to talk of providing or not providing colony.

“Government is even contradicting itself by saying those killing the people are not Fulani, so, if they are not Fulani, who, then, are you providing the cattle colony for?

“And, if the killers are foreigners, as some people are claiming, we should then give our land to criminals to stop killing us?

“I think we are seeing criminals who have taken advantage of the weakness of our security agencies and nobody is addressing it and government is telling us that criminals must be given colony to feed cattle.

“I think there is a mix-up here, because if you say you are providing colony for them, who are they? You know them, therefore, you must arrest them first because they are criminals…

“Let me tell you, I was in the team of CAN officials who visited Benue State, about two weeks ago. We visited many places in the state, what we saw was so sad.

“The killings must stop and it is only government that has all the machineries to stop the killings.

“Government must stop the killings and call for dialogue. You can imagine a man who has lost father, mother, brothers, sister, farms, cows and everything you can think of; what form of dialogue or discussion are you going to hold with him while he is in pains and killing has not stopped?

“We must put the government to task; to stop this killing and not allow it to use divide and rule to set Nigerians against themselves.

“So, provision of colony is a wrong step that cannot address the real issue because you don’t empower criminals to overpower you in your own land.

“We are not happy because our people can no longer go to the church, go to the farm, go to the market, and so on and so forth.

“We are calling on the federal government to end the killings in the region.”

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

The ruling All Progressives Congress says “at this time” it has no response to the blistering remarks by former President Olusegun Obasanjo asking President Muhammadu Buhari not to seek reelection.

Mr. Obasanjo, in the statement Tuesday entitled, “The Way Out: A Clarion Call for Coalition for Nigeria Movement”, said Mr. Buhari as well as his party, APC, had become a disappointment, faltering even in the major boast of his administration — anti-corruption campaign.

Citing the scandalous recall of fugitive pension task force head, Abduralsheed Maina, to public service, Mr. Obasanjo accused Mr. Buhari of nepotism and inability to instill discipline “in his nepotistic court”.

He said the manner of the recall stank of “collusion, condonation, ineptitude, incompetence, dereliction of responsibility or kinship and friendship on the part of those who should have taken visible and deterrent disciplinary action.”

Mr. Obasanjo also slammed Mr. Buhari for his “poor understanding” of Nigeria’s social-political dynamics, saying his leadership has widened division and inequality in the country.

This has effect on general national security, the former president said.

The third failure of Mr. Buhari, according to Mr. Obasanjo, is not accepting responsibility – “passing the buck”.

“If things were good, President Buhari would not need to come in. He was voted to fix things that were bad and not engage in the blame game,” the former president said.

Mr. Obasanjo asked Mr. Buhari not to run in 2019, but rather join the league of former leaders whose “experience, influence, wisdom and outreach can be deployed on the side line for the good of the country.”

The former president also dismissed the ruling All Progressives Party, saying it is as worthless as the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

He called instead for a “Coalition of Nigerians” which he offered to be a part of, to wrest power from the present ruling class and lead the country onto the path of rebirth.

However, while Mr. Obasanjo’s attack on both the APC and Mr. Buhari continue to dominate the media space, the ruling party told PREMIUM TIMES, Tuesday evening, it needed time to study Mr. Obasanjo’s statement to decide whether to react or not.

“The situation is that APC does not have a response at this time,” said Bolaji Abdullahi, the spokesperson for the party. “Maybe if we are given the opportunity to study the letter more closely, we will have a response.”

Mr. Abdullahi said the party had only “relied on what is being circulated in the media.”

When told the former president accused the APC government of nepotism, corruption and incapacity to promote national integration security, Mr. Abdullahi replied: “I will not be able to react to any content of the statement until we have the opportunity to study it.”

Mr. Obasanjo’s attacks coincided with growing criticism of the Buhari administration amid deadly farmer-herdsmen conflicts and petrol scarcity.

Meanwhile, as at the time of filing this report, telephone number of both Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, both presidential spokesperson, appeared turned off. Repeated attempts to get through to them failed.

Mr. Obasanjo, a two-term president on the platform of People PDP had backed Mr Buhari to power in 2015, opposing then incumbent and candidate of his former party, Goodluck Jonathan.

Mr. Obasanjo had written a condemnatory open letter in December 2013 titled “Before it is Too Late” where he highlighted the numerous failings of the Jonathan administration.

Mr. Obasanjo is known to have become estranged with all his successors, despite his support for them.

Winifred Oyo-Ita, head of the civil service of the federation, has spoken on why disciplinary actions have not been taken against those behind the reinstatement of Abdulrasheed Maina into the service.

Maina, former chairman of the presidential task force on pension reforms, was recalled and deployed to the ministry of interior, under controversial circumstances.

Amid the outcry of the news of his reinstatement, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered his sack and asked Oyo-Ita to probe the embarrassing situation.

The federal civil service commission dismissed Maina in 2013, for absconding from duty, following a recommendation by the office of the head of service.

He was accused of being involved in pension fraud running into over N100 billion. After an investigation by the senate joint committee on public service and establishment and state and local government administration, a warrant of arrest was issued against him.

Subsequently, the police declared him wanted and he went into hiding.

Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Oyo-Ita said no one has been punished because investigations were still ongoing, both at the presidency and the national assembly.

She also traced the delay to the fact that the matter is before a court of “competent jurisdiction”.

“The Maina issue is a controversial one but I will also inform you that right now there is already an investigation exercise going on, both at the presidency level and at the national assembly level,” she said.

“The senate committee and the house of reps committee have set up an investigation on that. And recently there is a court case still on the issue.

“So, with all these investigative machineries in process, and a court case, which you know that once a matter is in court it becomes subjudice, there is really not much one can say or do in terms of disciplinary action or whatever.

“The matter is already being investigated at the highest level both at the executive and the legislative level and now the judiciary.”

Oyo-Ita said the commission was working hard to tackle the issue of illegal recruitments into the service.

She also disclosed that approval had been granted for the restructuring of some offices for effective service.

She listed the affected offices to include the office of the head of the civil service of the federation, National Agency for Great Green Wall, Nigeria Immigration Service, Pharmacist Council of Nigeria, National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration, Optometrist and Dispensing Opticians Registration Board, Nigeria Institute of Soil Science and Corporate Affairs Commission.

She, however, did not give details of the approved restructuring.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has disclosed that about 7.5 million Nigerians in the labour population had nothing to do in the third quarter of 2017, but when this number is added to those who worked for less than 20 hours a week – 8.46 million, the number of unemployed persons in the country stood at 15.99 million during the period under review.

According to the NBS’ Labour Force Statistics Volume 2: Employment by Sector Report for Third Quarter of 2017, which was released in Abuja Monday, those who worked less than 20 hours a week and those who did absolutely nothing were classified as unemployed.

The report noted that in the third quarter of 2017, 77.55 million people were engaged in economic activities from a labour force of 85.08 million.

However, the statistical agency pointed out that 8.46 million were engaged for between one and 19 hours weekly; 18.02 million for 20 to 39 hours; 51.06 million above 40 hours, just as 7.53 million did absolutely nothing during the quarter under review.

According to the report, those who worked between 20 and 39 hours or did jobs not commensurate with their qualifications and skills were also classified as underemployed.
The bureau, however, stated that of 8.46 million persons that worked within 1 to19 hours a week, 1.83 million or 21.67 per cent worked for pay/wages.

The NBS report added that among the 77.55 million labour population who were engaged in some form of economic activity, 38.24 per cent of them or 29.66 million were self-employed (engaged in farming/agriculture) while 27.93 per cent or 21.66 million were self-employed in non-farming/agriculture sectors.

“A total of 19.72 million were working for pay or wages, which was equivalent to 25.42 per cent of the total workers in 2017 Q3. Paid apprentices and unpaid house workers constituted 7.30 per cent and 1.11 per cent of the total work force engaged for at last one hour a week,” it said.
It stated that 83,978 or 0.99 per cent were paid apprentices and 703,240 or 8.31 per cent were unpaid house workers.

Giving a further breakdown under the working hours’ category, the agriculture sector with 59.02 per cent or 5.01 million persons dominated, followed by trade (9.7 per cent), and professional, scientific and technical services (7.0 per cent).

The NBS added that of the 18.02 million persons that worked within 20 to 39 hours a week and classified as underemployed, 3.77 million or 20.96 per cent worked for pay/wages.
It added that 231,671 or 1.28 per cent were paid apprentices and 2.41 million or 13.39 per cent were unpaid house workers.

During the third quarter of 2017, NBS also said more males worked full-time than females, while a higher percentage of females worked part-time between 20 to 39 hours and below 20 hours per week.
The absolute number of male full-time workers (34.85 million) was more than twice the number of female full-time workers (16.21 million) in the third quarter of 2017.

The report also indicated that a larger percentage of males to females were self-employed in farming/agriculture work, while a larger percentage of females were self-employed in non-farming/agriculture work.
Agriculture dominated both the female and male labour markets, NBS stated.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

Military deploys more forces in Benue

The Nigerian Air Force said on Monday that it had deployed “helicopters and other air assets” to Benue State to support the ground forces in containing the killings.

The NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya, added that the military were investigating a strange helicopter loaded with ammunition, sighted in Taraba State.

It had been reported on Monday that the helicopter landed in a village, Jibu, in the Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State.

The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the state Governor, Darius Ishaku, Bala Dan-Abu, had confirmed the sighting of the armed aircraft.

But the air force on Monday, in a series of tweets on its handle, stated that it had deployed its helicopters to the area.

The NAF spokesman said the helicopter and other weapons sent to Benue and surrounding states were working “quietly behind the scenes.”

Adesanya, said, “The necessary action is being taken in Benue. The NAF has deployed helicopters and other assets to support other security agencies. The air deployments are working quietly behind the scene.

“We have radars in place. The report about the militia chopper in Taraba is also being investigated.”

When asked on Twitter about the purchase of $593 million fighter aircraft from the United States of America since the Boko Haram insurgents were said to be “technically defeated,” the air force noted that the allocation was to consolidate on the successes.

“The Boko Haram’s capability to operate freely has been decimated. The Super Tucano aircraft are required to consolidate on the successes recorded so far. The Boko Haram terrorists are in disarray and they are no longer in one location. As the air force identifies the terrorist cells, it strikes. We are not particular about US aircraft; the recent acquisitions included aircraft from Russia, Pakistan and China.”

Benue groups seek apology

Three socio-cultural groups in Benue State – Mudzough U Tiv, Idoma National Forum and On’yi Igede – have advised the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, and the state Council of Traditional Rulers to back out of all the activities of the northern region until other northern governors apologised to the people of the state.

Chief Ode Enyi, who spoke on Monday on behalf of the groups at a stakeholders’ meeting in the Government House, Makurdi, lamented that instead of the northern governors who paid a condolence visit to the state last Friday to condole with the state on the killings, they “displayed arrogance.”

He said, “We have decided as socio-cultural groups in the state to review our relationship with the northern Nigeria; we advise the governor and our royal fathers to tell other northern governors to apologise for the genocide on our land.”

The groups, which applauded the hand of fellowship extended to the state by the socio-cultural groups in the south, which comprise Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Middle Belt Forum and South-South Forum, said that they had thrown their weight behind restructuring of the country.

“We thank our brothers in the south who visited the state to commensurate with us over the death of our sons and daughters mercilessly killed by the senseless herdsmen; we have no faith in the country called Nigeria unless the nation is restructured.

“On our own part we have set up a committee on restructuring, I urge everyone to rise and defend our land; our forefathers bequeathed the land to us and we have to retain it for our generations yet unborn.”

Addressing the stakeholders, Governor Samuel Ortom insisted that he did the needful to prevent the New Year killings in the state.

Ortom blamed those “who abdicated in their responsibilities and allowed the killings of over 73 persons in the state.”

He said, “Our offence is that we make anti-open grazing law. Immediately the law was made, the umbrella body of Miyeitti Alla Kautal Hore challenged the law and threatened to mobilise to attack Benue.

“All those who failed to act at the time they ought to act which could have stopped the killings and those who perpetrated the killings will one day account for the blood of our lost ones.”

Only God can resolve crisis –Gbong Gwom Jos

The Chairman, Plateau State Council of Traditional Rulers and Gbong Gwom Jos, Jacob Gyang Buba, has said only God can resolve the crisis between Fulani herdsmen and local farmers which has led to the killing of citizens in the country.

He also warned against playing politics with security in the country adding that “if there is no security, there will be no politics.”

According to him, traditional institutions will be willing to cooperate with the government in resolving the issues.

Buba spoke on Monday during a ceremony marking the beginning of 2017/2018 Legal Year of Plateau State Judiciary.

Buba said, “We will pray to God; that is the best person who can resolve this issue. We will continue to pray and we all appreciate that no one has the right to terminate life which we didn’t create. And we appeal to the government and security agencies to be more proactive so that they can contain it.

“Traditional institutions all over the country are willing to cooperate with government in resolving these issues in a proper manner. And I hope we will get there.”

He scored the Nigerian Judiciary high saying the judiciary had been doing its best given the prevailing circumstances.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44