25th February, 2021
Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi has responded to the statement made by Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state.
Ortom had labelled Bala Mohammed a “terrorist” for justifying the use of AK-47 rifles by Fulani herdsmen.
However, the Bauchi governor, in his response to Ortom on Wednesday, said the Benue governor has taken his “well known” and “unfortunate theatrics” to a dangerous level by making “unfounded and grave allegations.”
A statement from Bala’s office said: “We are, therefore, shocked that Governor Ortom could, in good conscience, address a fellow governor whom he had described as a brother, as a terrorist and who should, to wit, be placed under watch should anything untoward happen to him (Ortom).
“We want to state that Governor Ortom has carried the unfortunate theatrics, for which he is well known, to a very precipitous level of brinkmanship.”
Mohammed noted that Ortom has the right to speak, but that “the Benue State governor has over-personalised the matter, thereby reducing the debate to a level of toxicity that is neither healthy for the country nor helpful to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).”
In another event yesterday, Bala Mohammed said he has no apology for speaking up against ethnic profiling of Fulani Herdsmen.
He, however, appealed to all arms-bearing herders to drop their weapons.
He said: “I will do everything to protect you and support you because, through time and history, you seem to have been lampooned, subjected to caricature, but you remain humane, simple, you don’t show so much aggression and of course, that humility, is always what we recognize,” Governor Mohammed said.
“Please don’t carry the AK-47; try to make sure that you remain peaceful”.