Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has vowed to drag the foremost Fulani socio-cultural organization, Miyetti Allah, before the ICC over alleged invasions and killings in the state by armed Fulani herdsmen.
The decision was announced by Mr. Michael Gusa, the state’s attorney general and commissioner for justice, who hinted that the number of killings in the state had increased.
He emphasized the significance of the government taking the appropriate measures because, according to records, the perpetrators of the state’s genocide were already known to their victims.
Alhaji Saleh Alhassan, the National Secretary-General of Miyetti Allah, recently threatened to drag Governor Samuel Ortom before the ICC. According to the Commissioner, the threat was preventive given the circumstances.
“I think what they said was just to preempt what the Benue State Government would do to them because we recall that they have always come up to justify and own up to the killings in the state.
“So they are only saying that (about Ortom) to preempt what the Benue State is going to do. Recall that even when the attack and attempt on the life of Governor Ortom happened, they came in to accept responsibility – the Fulani Nationality Movement, FUNAM, claimed responsibility.
“So the entire genocide and ethnic cleansing that are going on in the state have been put on their door steps. We have records of their statements and all that is needed.
“Recall that when the anti-open grazing law came into being in 2017, they came out to say that they would not obey the law. And when the implementation started, they came on New Year’s Day and killed so many people in state.
“That massacre led to the mass burial that was conducted in the state in 2018. They came and claimed responsibility because they were protesting the implementation of that law.
“So we will approach the ICC over the matter because we know our killers, we know those who are perpetrating the killings in Benue State and our people deserve to get justice,” he said