AGATU: Ortom decries crisis, calls for the Presidential enquiry

By Solomon Okpere.. MAKURDI—Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has urged the Federal Government to set up a commission of enquiry into the mayhem perpetrated in Agatu by Fulani herdsmen with a view to finding a lasting solution to the crisis. agatu1 Ortom, who made the call on Wednesday, when he led heads of security agencies in the state and top government functionaries to an on-the-spot assessment of the devastation in Agatu communities, expressed shock at the level of destruction in the area. While addressing the people at Aila, Okokolo and those displaced at Obagaji he described the level of destruction as monumental lamenting that the rehabilitaion of the affected communities was far beyond the financial capacity of the state. Speaking in an emotion ladened voice, the Governor said, “i have visited some of the places attacked by insurgents in the North East but the magnitude of devastation in Agatu far exceeds what happened in those places.” He solicited assistance from the Federal Government, global agencies, organizations, and individuals to rehabilitate the destroyed communities in Agatu and other parts of the state to enable the inhabitants recover and get their lives together again. The Governor noted that farming and grazing were incompatible hence the urgent need for the establishment of ranches in the country as a permanent solution to the recurrent clashes between farmers and herders in parts of the country.