2023-07-14 17:13:00
Independent Newspapers Nigeria
MAKURDI - The People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State has observed that the recent statement by the State Governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia is an indication that he had entered into a pact with local bandits as well as Fulani herdsmen just before the 2023 election.
According to the statement credited to the State Governor, Alia said because he had spoken with the bandits before the election and promised to bring them back home when he becomes governor, he had expected that they (bandits) would not carryout any attack on Benue communities without first hearing from him.
Therefore, in a statement made available to newsmen in Makurdi on Friday, Bemgba Iortyom, the State Publicity Secretary of the PDP advised the governor to come clean on the pact entered into with the bandits and Fulani herdsmen.
He argued that the Governor's statement when he visited the scene of last week's attack by bandits on Akpuuna 1, in Ukum Local Government Area (LGA) of the state where about 27 persons were killed and one person kidnapped, gives credence to the fact that Alia has an agreement with the bandits.
The PDP Spokesman said, "Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, has publicly confessed having a pact with bandits in the Sankera area of the state comprising Katsina-Ala, Ukum and Logo LGAs, who have over the years allegedly been behind killings, kidnappings and other forms of crime in the area.
"Specifically on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, while visiting Akpuuna 1 settlement area in Sankera where on Saturday, July 8, 2023, yet to be identified gunmen attacked and killed over 27 persons, Governor Alia stated among other things that during the campaigns, he had a pact with the bandits whom he referred to as "my brothers in the bush", and pledged that if he became governor, he will bring them home from hiding where they had been since a crackdown on their criminal activities by the administration of Governor Samuel Ortom.
"The governor expressed dismay that they could carry out killings without first "hearing from him", and this was after he had decried the tragedy of the killings which he stated emphatically were carried out, not by anyone outside the area, but by persons within locality.
"This raises a number of questions which the PDP in the state and indeed Benue people demand answers to from the governor.
"First, when the governor declared that the killings were carried out by the locals and not by outsiders, was he speaking from an informed position based on findings from a conclusive investigation, or he was only seeking to distance Fulani herdsmen from possible involvement since they also fall within the sphere of the likely suspects?
"Secondly, who are those bandits whom Mr. Governor referred to as "my brothers in the bush"? What cause are they fighting for? How does he plan to bring them home and how will he resettle them? In other words, by his confessed pact with them, is Governor Alia planning on having an Amnesty Programme for the Bandits of Sankera?
"Thirdly, those 'brothers of the governor in the bush' are suspects in the killings of the 27 persons in Akpuuna 1 and the kidnapping of Hon. John Gbede Chihichan, a retired Director with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) who was a PDP aspirant for the House of Representatives in 2023, and this raises the question - is the governor willing to have them subjected to investigation aimed at bringing them to book to answer for their crimes, if they are found guilty, or will he turn a blind eye and insulate them from investigation and likely prosecution?
"Fourthly, does this fact of a pact between Governor Alia and the 'Bandits of Sankera' not lend credence to the claims by Fulani herdsmen that he also had a pact with them during the campaigns and pledged to repeal the anti open grazing law in return for their financial support to his election effort?
"PDP demands that Governor Alia honour his oath of allegiance to the Constitution of Nigeria by coming clean on his links with 'The Bandits of Sankera' as well as Fulani herdsmen, regarding how he intends to fulfill his stated pledge to the bandits and what his reaction is to the alleged claims by Fulani herdsmen of a deal the governor had with them, against the backdrop of the recent killings in Akpuuna 1 and the unceasing instreaming of the herdsmen into the state which is attended by killings and more displacement of the rural populace," Iortyom asked.