Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, have told Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State that his supporters, not Fulani herdsmen, attempted to assassinate him over the weekend.
Heritage Times had reported that Ortom after the incident, accused herders of trying to assassinate him in his farm near Tyo-mu, along Makurdi-Gboko Highway on Saturday.
But in a statement issued by MACBAN’s National Secretary Alhassan Saleh, the dismissed Ortom’s claims, stating that there are no longer herdsmen in Benue state.
“Herdsmen cannot attack him. There are even no herdsmen in Benue state because he has driven them away. He’s just behaving like a tout, and it’s unfortunate that such a person could become a governor.
“He trivialises everything. The attack is political; they are killing themselves there. There are killers around him; everybody knows,” the group said.
The statement added that: “If nemesis would catch up with him for his atrocities against herders, it’s the killers that he is breeding, not herders that will finish him. We don’t have any hands in his matter”.
Meanwhile, the group’s dismissal comes after another group; Fulani Nationality Movement, FUNAM, claimed responsibility for the attack on the governor.
As contained in a statement issued by one Umar Amir Shehu, FUNAM confirmed that it attacked the governor on behalf of millions of Fulanis.
“Yes. Yes, we did. The Fulani Nationality Movement (FUNAM) carried out the attack. We have genuine reasons. We acted on behalf of millions of Fulani people in 15 countries,” part the statement read.
