Why Gov. Suswam Absolves Fulani Herdsmen of Killing Tiv Indigenes

A number of yet-to-be identified thugs, pretending to be Fulani herdsmen, have been raidning Benue State and murdering its residents, said the State Governor Gabriel Suswam on Sunday.

It will be recalled that there were reports of Fulani herdsmen killing and robbing indigenes of Guma, Gwer West and Makurdi local government areas.
However, Governor Suswam said the assailants were not the herdsmen.
"We called a meeting after the communal clashes between the Fulani herdsmen and the Tiv farmers," the Governor said. "This situation is applicable to other areas in the state like Agatu but it is more pronounced in these councils. We called all the prominent people of Minda extraction for a roundtable to discuss possible ways of solving the problem once and for all and we discovered that criminals are the ones attacking Benue communities, not Fulani herdsmen."
A committee has been raised to recommend the ways of apprehending the criminals, and has one week to submit its report.
Seven persons were reported dead last week following a clash between suspected herdsmen and Tiv farmers at Agasha in Guma Local Government Area of the state, as property and farmlands worth millions of naira were destroyed.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Daniel Ezeala, had earlier confirmed the death of the seven persons in the clash.


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