The Benue Youth Forum, BYF, says it has uncovered a group of youths believed to have been sponsored by the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Benue State rubbish to discredit Governor Samuel Ortom on the establishment of the Benue State Community Volunteer Guards.
The forum said the group would address a press conference in Abuja on Friday, 12th August 2022.
Comrade Terrence Kuanum, President of BYF, in a statement said the group was sponsored by the enemies of this country who are bent on eliminating Governor Samuel Ortom.
According to Terrence, leaders of the group are cooking up weird stories against Governor Ortom with bogus and imaginary claims just to tarnish the good works of the governor in proffering solutions to tackle insecurity in the state.
The BYF leader said the sponsored group were also said to be planning to make spurious allegations during their press conference that the Governor has been responsible for the series of attacks on innocent Benue people.
He said, “Their aim is to use the creation of the Benue State Community Volunteer Guard as an excuse to unleash more mayhem on Benue communities to discredit the patriotic institution that is meant to collaborate with the conventional securities in Benue to reduce security challenges faced in Benue to the barest minimum.
“We wish to urge discerning Benue and Nigerians of good will to disregard this group and its manufactured lies. It is not a group known to exist before now. It is an alliance of selfish young men who want to take advantage of the current security situation in Benue State to make monetary gains from the opposition party.
“We also wish to alert Nigerians that more of such press outings should be expected from nondescript groups as “Arewa group”.
“We restate our firm commitment to the peace and security of Benue people. We urge President Muhammadu Buhari and the presidency to prevail on security agencies to warn those planning to cause political crises in the state to desist from such plots.”
The youth forum, therefore, called on the Police, DSS and other law enforcement agencies to arrest those behind the Sankera violence and stop looking for who to blame.
“The ongoing crisis in the Sankera area of Benue State predates Governor Ortom, and any attempt to link the Governor with the violence will be resisted.
“We are aware of the efforts the Governor has made to bring the security situation in Sankera and the Benue/Taraba border to an end.
“Lastly, we warn officials and members of the faceless ‘Arewa Group’ to avoid overheating the security situation in Benue State. They should not play politics with the sensitive matter which is about human lives,” the statement added.
