Amid the growing insecurity in Benue State that has led to the loss of lives, the member representing Kwande/Ushongo Federal Constituency in the Federal House of Representatives, Terseer Ugbor, has opined that the military formations currently in the state are for peacekeeping rather than for combat.
Naija News reports that there have been growing concerns over the spate of killings in Benue which heightened by the attack on the Yelwata community in the Guma Local Government Area of the state last Friday which led to the death of at least 59 residents.
The attack also left many injured and displaced thousands of residents.
While speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Ugbor said that communities in the state will have to come up with ways to defend themselves against their attackers.
He said that Benue had for a long time not had a local security outfit that could serve as a defence mechanism against such attacks.
Ugbor, therefore, called on the Nigerian military to go on the offensive to end the killings.
He said, “You see, the DG of the DSS publicly said communities will have to come up with self-defence mechanisms. Communities will have to defend themselves. Communities will have to come up with vigilantes and other systems where you can protect your communities.
“This is what Benue needs to do. For a long time, as I said, Benue did not have a militia. Benue has had several attempts to set up a state security apparatus, the former governor, (Samuel) Ortom did that, with the anti-open grazing law.
“Then this government came in and set up their own volunteer guards, ‘Anyam Nyor’. Unfortunately, we’ve not seen much of the impact of ‘Anyam Nyor’ in Benue. So we’ve not been able to set up a good security architecture to protect our communities in Benue. We’ve just not been able to.
“And let me tell you, the military and the police security forces in Benue are in Benue for peacekeeping. I also went to military school, so I know the mentality behind military operations.
“The military formations in Benue are there for peacekeeping. I interact with them at the grassroots level, and I know their mindset. They’re not there to open fire on any group of people. They’re not there to go all out and open fire on the Fulani, open fire on the Tiv people, or any other tribe in Benue; they are there to maintain the peace.
“And because of that, when these people come and attack, they attack and they retreat. The security presence is not there, it doesn’t have the mandate to pursue them across state lines and go and attack them in another state.
“That is not the mandate of the security in Benue. But right now, with this situation, the military needs to go on the offensive. If not, this problem will not stop.”
The post ‘Military, Police Security In Benue Are Not There To Open Fire On Anyone’ – Lawmaker Urges Communities To Protect Themselves appeared first on Naija News.