• Benue vows
to implement anti-grazing law
• Anglican
Church taks FG on nomad’s activities in Delta
• Arewa,
Igbo’s reconciliatory meeting postponed
•Yoruba
leaders urge peace co-existence
A coalition
of Middle Belt Youths has asked herdsmen to vacate the region before October 1
this year. They, however, distanced themselves from the quit notice issued to
Igbo resident in the north.
Operating
under the aegis of Middle Belt Renaissance Forum, the youths, which met in
Abuja, threatened war at the expiration of their ultimatum.
A communiqué
by its convener, Comrade Jones Simon Alfa, urged governors from the region to
be alive to governance and desist from harassing media practitioners.
It reads:
“The Middle Belt governors should sit up for governance and stop primitive
accumulation of wealth. The region is not in any way part of the agitation for
Igbo to vacate the north on October 1.
“We have
been living with the Igbo peacefully and will not join in the call for
secession.”
In a related
development, Governor Samuel Ortom has vowed to go ahead with the anti-grazing
law in Benue State.
The
governor, who spoke yesterday in Makurdi against the backdrop of the court
initiated at an Abuja High Court against the legislation by Miyeitti Allah
Kautal Hore, said the move would not deter his administration in doing what was
right for the people.
He
maintained that the exercise was only a ploy to kill time, saying government
would not watch idly while a few disturb the prevailing peace in the state. The
governor pledged to tackle the group legally.
Joined in
the suit filed by the association’s trustees, Alhaji Abdullahi Bello Bodojo and
Salleh Alhassan through their counsel, Aliyu Ahmed and Associates, are the
National Assembly, Attorney General of Federation (AGF), Inspector General of
Police, Benue House of Assembly, the state government and Commissioner of
Police.
Besides, the
Ika Diocese of the Anglican Communion has urged the Federal Government to halt
the alleged killings and destruction of farmlands by herdsmen in Delta State.
President,
Mothers’ Union and Women’s Guild of the church, Dame Mercy Yetunde Onekpe,
lamented the continued attack on persons in the state, saying the activities of
the nomads were another major source of fear nationwide.
However, the
peace meeting called to straighten ties following the eviction notice issued by
northern youths for Igbo to vacate the region has been postponed.
The 10-day
postponement, according to the committee of Hausa and Igbo leaders in Abuja,
was to allow for more consultation.
The
bi-partisan committee was set up on August 4 to proffer solution to the tension
generated by the October 1, 2017 quit notice.
A statement
signed by Chi Nwogu and Dauda Shamakiri gave vent to the shift.
Also
yesterday, Yoruba leaders in the north urged the two ethnic nationalities to
live peacefully and jointly contribute to a virile and prosperous Nigeria.
Rising from
a meeting in Kaduna, the Ambassador Muhammad Arigbabuwo-led Yoruba Traditional
Council Arigbabuwo expressed satisfaction at the role of northern governors,
monarchs as well as the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and other bodies in
dousing the tension.
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