Executives of Benue Farmers Association have expressed shock by an allegation by the Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong on a television programme that farmers are armed with AK-47 assault rifles like some Fulani herdsmen.
A statement by its Chairman, Aondongu Saaku, said the Governor’s allegation is grossly unacceptable and am outright falsehood.
He said the Plateau State Governor’s utterances are an insult to farmers of Benue State in particular and Nigerian farmers in general whose efforts in feeding the nation are being frustrated by atrocities of armed herdsmen.
He claimed that despite the many unprovoked attacks on farmers who are killed in their hundreds and their only source of livelihood destroyed by armed herdsmen, they do not take the laws into their hands.
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While appreciating Governor Samuel Ortom for his unflinching commitment to ensuring that thousands of farmers displaced as a result of herdsmen attacks return to their ancestral homes, he called on the Federal Government to redeem its 10 billion naira resettlement pledge to facilitate a quick return to their ancestral homes.
He equally called on the national office of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria to rise in defence of its members across the country.
