Fulani socio-cultural organization, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, has apologised to the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, over last year’s herder attacks that claimed several lives in the state.
National Secretary of the association, Saleh Alhassan, who gave the apology in Makurdi during a peace initiative brokered by the Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, expressed the regrets of the herder group over the Benue killings and pledged to ensure peaceful coexistence between herdsmen and farmers moving forward.
He described Governor Ortom as a peace-loving man who stood firmly for the emancipation of his people.
The Miyetti Allah scribe gave assurance that members of the group would embrace the peace initiatives put forward by the State Governor.
Responding, Governor Ortom stated that the enactment of the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law by Benue State Government was to end the killing of innocent people and encourage ranching as the global best practice of animal husbandry.
He stated that any person or ethnic group wishing to rear livestock in the state was free to come, acquire land and ranch according to the provisions of the ranching law of the state.
The Governor noted that the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law protects both farmers and livestock owners, adding that legislation was not meant to promote crisis of any kind.
Earlier, Onyema had emphasized the need for peaceful coexistence between farmers and herders in Benue State, saying he personally brought Saleh Alhassan to broker peace between Miyetti Allah group and the people of the state.
