Benue killings: Buhari should have visited state - Former governor chides president

macfranc007 February 08, 2018 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Nigerian newspapers 24/7 Buchi Obichie

- An ex-governor of Benue state, Gabriel Suswam, has chided President Buhari for not visiting the state, following the killings by herdsmen

- Suswam stated that a responsive government would have visited Benue to condole with the people over the gruesome murder of innocent lives

- He also disclosed that he had sent a condolence message to Governor Samuel Ortom and urged the governor to reach out across party lines to find a way to solve the problem permanently

President Muhammadu Buhari has been chided by a former governor of Benue state, Dr Gabriel Suswam, for not paying a visit to the state since the invasion by herdsmen which led to the murder of 73 people.

According to The Sun, Suswam made his comments in reaction to the president’s recent visit to Nasarawa state.

NAIJ.com gathers that the governor stated that the president should have visited Benue first, due to the critical nature of the situation there.

In his words: “I am not in a position to comment on his visit (to Nasarawa) because I’m not in his party. Secondly, I know that as a president, he must have had his programme outlined for the year but that notwithstanding, the Benue case is an emergency.

“One would expect that a place that lost 73 People at once, he (Buhari) would have been more concerned about visiting such area. One would expect that a responsive government would have visited Benue to condole with the people over the gruesome murder of innocent lives.”

Suswam further disclosed that he had sent a condolence message to the governor of the state, Samuel Ortom.

He urged the governor to cross party lines in order to find a lasting solution to the herdsmen issue.

He stated: “I have condemned the killing in totality. I already sent a message encouraging the governor to talk to people across party lines and I’m happy the president has reacted by asking that the perpetrators of the killings be arrested.

“I think he reacted as a result of the national condemnation of the killings. It’s not good for a country to experience loss of lives like that.”

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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that the Nigerian Presidency explained why President Buhari had not gone to Benue state to commiserate with the government and people of the state over the recent killings.

The special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, said the president would eventually visit the state and other troubled states. Adesina, however, did not state when exactly the President would visit Benue.

He also reacted to claims by some Nigerians that the Presidency has been slow in action towards the herdsmen attacks, noting that the President reacted immediately and had dispatched top security officials to the state.

Victims of herdsmen killing buried in Benue state - on NAIJ.com TV: