The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom on Wednesday condemned the kidnapping of a Catholic Priests and three others by suspected armed herdsmen in Umutu/Abraka, Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State.
Ortom, who described the abduction of the four Reverend Fathers as “barbaric, dehumanizing and shameful,” warned that the activities of herdsmen, if not checked may affect the conduct of 2019.
In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, Ortom wondered why “armed herdsmen have chosen to make harmless clergymen targets of attacks,” adding that the “motive of the perpetrators is clearly beyond mere grazing of cattle.”
He stated that the resolve of herdsmen to sack communities and claim ancestral lands belonging to the people was threatening the existence of Nigeria.
Ortom lamented that the people of Benue State were still mourning the killing of two Catholic Priests and 17 worshippers by herdsmen in Mbalom, Gwer East Local Government Area of the State, earlier this year.
Urging security agencies to act swiftly to ensure the release of the kidnapped priest and the other victims in Delta State, the governor called on other “Nigerians to rise in condemnation of persistent attacks on innocent people, particularly the current spate of violence against the clergy.”
The Governor warned that the “activities of armed herdsmen, if not checked, will affect the smooth conduct of the 2019 elections in parts of the country.”
He said the government and people of Benue State were standing in prayers with the Catholic Dioceses of Warri where the abducted priests hail from.
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