My predecessor flooded Benue State with arms- Ortom
Thu Jun 16, 2016 01:15:pm National
2.1K By Buchi Obichie
Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, is blaming his predecessor, Gabriel Suswam, for 'flooding' the state with arms.
Ortom said Suswam was responsible for the proliferation of arms in the state; purchasing them and distributing to youths, in order to further his political ambition.
He said the Government will go after those who have refused to surrender their weapons since an amnesty window has closed.
Speaking to state house journalists after a meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Governor said: "The amnesty programme succeeded because more than 800 young people came out and surrendered. We have in our possession, over 600 assorted weapons and ammunition that we collected from these young men.
"The last dispensation believed in violence. My predecessor and his cohorts believed they could take everything by force and they bought these arms and gave to young men. I am appealing to them to still return those arms.
"Now that the carrot approach of the amnesty programme is over, we will now adopt the stick approach. We are going to pursue them to their homes. Wherever they are, we are going to arrest them and prosecute them. We are going to go after them fully."
The amnesty had been announced by the Governor last year, together with a monetary reward for those who willingly submitted their illegal arms.
Benue has seen spells of violence in the last couple of months. Last month, the Governor's Senior Special Assistant on Security, Denen Igbana, was killed by gunmen.
"I cannot in any way surrender my state to criminals. I am going to fight them headlong. I am the governor of Benue State, I was duly elected and I have the backing of my people to fight criminals so that we can have a free society to build our economy," the Governor said.
Responding to criticisms on his new policy of declaring Fridays as work free in the state, the Governor said he took the decision because of the farming season, to allow workers ample time on their farms.
"They are ignorant people. The programme is well received. Benue State has comparative advantage in agriculture.
"Now, we are finding it difficult to pay salaries. We are down by four months at the state level and five months at the local government level.
"Coming to a state that is more of civil service, I have said that I have declared Fridays as public holidays because this is cropping period. They should go to the farm between now and the end of July that is cropping period. This can help because no matter how little, whatever they contribute in agriculture will add value to the state economy.
"In any case, because there are no salaries, you know the morale of workers is even low. Apart from that, the money to prosecute good projects is not there.
Ortom said Suswam was responsible for the proliferation of arms in the state; purchasing them and distributing to youths, in order to further his political ambition.
He said the Government will go after those who have refused to surrender their weapons since an amnesty window has closed.
Speaking to state house journalists after a meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Governor said: "The amnesty programme succeeded because more than 800 young people came out and surrendered. We have in our possession, over 600 assorted weapons and ammunition that we collected from these young men.
"The last dispensation believed in violence. My predecessor and his cohorts believed they could take everything by force and they bought these arms and gave to young men. I am appealing to them to still return those arms.
"Now that the carrot approach of the amnesty programme is over, we will now adopt the stick approach. We are going to pursue them to their homes. Wherever they are, we are going to arrest them and prosecute them. We are going to go after them fully."
The amnesty had been announced by the Governor last year, together with a monetary reward for those who willingly submitted their illegal arms.
Benue has seen spells of violence in the last couple of months. Last month, the Governor's Senior Special Assistant on Security, Denen Igbana, was killed by gunmen.
"I cannot in any way surrender my state to criminals. I am going to fight them headlong. I am the governor of Benue State, I was duly elected and I have the backing of my people to fight criminals so that we can have a free society to build our economy," the Governor said.
Responding to criticisms on his new policy of declaring Fridays as work free in the state, the Governor said he took the decision because of the farming season, to allow workers ample time on their farms.
"They are ignorant people. The programme is well received. Benue State has comparative advantage in agriculture.
"Now, we are finding it difficult to pay salaries. We are down by four months at the state level and five months at the local government level.
"Coming to a state that is more of civil service, I have said that I have declared Fridays as public holidays because this is cropping period. They should go to the farm between now and the end of July that is cropping period. This can help because no matter how little, whatever they contribute in agriculture will add value to the state economy.
"In any case, because there are no salaries, you know the morale of workers is even low. Apart from that, the money to prosecute good projects is not there.
"Even when you did not declare Friday, it is as good as they go there and still do nothing," he said.
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