The Governor of Benue State, Dr. Samuel Ortom, has said it was an injustice to clamp down on the Eastern Security Network (ESN), and ignore the Fulani herders who carry AK-47 rifles.
Ortom said the treatment meted out to the ESN, the security arm of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and its leader, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, should be the same for Fulani people who carry guns.
Speaking in an interview with BBC News Pidgin, the Benue State governor queried: “Why should they allow Fulani from foreign land to come to Nigeria to disturb us?”
“No country will allow that kind of a thing. But here in Nigeria, it is allowed. And those Fulani people believe they can go anywhere and take possession of the place.”
Ortom said the free movement by the Fulani people into Nigeria can’t be done in Ghana, South Africa and Kenya except they have travel documents.
“That’s why we are complaining that the leader at the top should not fold his arms but also talk about this issue. He should also make efforts to show that he’s our leader,” he said.
“It is not balanced that way, and that is what we are saying. Didn’t they arrest Kanu who leads IPOB? They arrested him and I think he ran away, if not he would have been jailed,” Ortom said.
“So why are they not arresting these people in the forests? Don’t we have Air Force, soldiers, police, and the DSS?
“Not too long ago, they went after the Eastern Security Network. It is an illegal thing, and I support the government to clamp down on them.
“But why should they clamp down on them alone? Why should they leave the Fulani people to carry AK-47, AK-49 and even big guns that soldiers, police, and the DSS don’t carry in this country?”
“Why should they do that only in the South? That is injustice,” he said.
“Let everybody be treated the same way.”
