UKUM ELITES ASSEMBLY (UEA) Press Statement

UKUM ELITES ASSEMBLY (UEA) 

Press Statement

IF THERE IS ANYTHING GOVERNOR ALIA IS NOT TELLING US ABOUT FULANI ATTACKS , LET HIM TELL US NOW 

Protocol 

2. We have carefully observed and ex-rayed the utterances, actions and inactions of the Governor of Benue State, Revd. Father Hyacinth Alia, particularly on the activities of killer herdsmen on Benue communities since his assumption of office as the Governor and Chief Security Officer of Benue State, and all evidence points to the fact that the Governor owes Benue people an explanation regarding his involvement and commitment with the Fulani people.

2. Few days ago, gun men suspected to be Fulani militia invaded Gbagir and its environs in Tyuluv Council Ward of Ukum and unleashed mayhem on the innocent/ harmless farming community leaving no fewer than 50 persons gruesomely murdered and property worth billions of naira destroyed.

3. Senator Representing Benue North East Senatorial District, Barr. Emmanuel Udende moved a motion of urgent public importance on the floor of the red chambers drawing the attention of the Senate to the dastardly act and wanton killing of his constituents from Kwande, Katsina Ala, Ukum and Logo by men believed to be armed Fulani herdsmen. Senator Udende’s motion prompted the Senate to pass a resolution to meet with President Bola Tinubu on the security situation in Benue State.

4. Ordinarily, one would expect Governor Alia to be very proud of Senator Udende for making his job as the Chief Security Officer of the State easy, but in a dramatic and unfortunate twist, the Governor and his handlers have launched a media war against the Senator accusing him of deceiving the Senate.

5. Governor Alia has also made uncharitable comments against not only the peace loving people of Ukum local government but also to any other section of the state faced with the Fulani crisis, profiling and blackmailing our youths either as cattle rustlers or a people killing themselves only to heap the blames on the Fulanis and even attributed Fulani attacks on Benue communities to rival gangs fighting for supremacy.

6. We condemn in strong terms the strange and suspicious behaviour of the Governor pitching tent with invaders and Jihadists against his people and wish to appeal to him to come out clean and tell Benue people if he was compelled by circumstances to enter into a pact with the Fulanis or forced to take a loan from the Fulanis that Benue people will be required to contribute money and pay on his behalf to free him from slavery.

7. It is on record that Governor Alia had assured Ukum people that he would end the spate of insecurity in the area within his first 100 days in office. It was at the same time that he addressed the bandits as “my brothers in the bush” who had agreed to always listen to him before taking any action. He, on the same occasion, vehemently opposed the notion that Fulani herders were responsible for the attacks and killings in Sankera and insisted that the killings were carried out by local militia. The following therefore posers come to mind following the declaration that the same “brothers in the bush” are responsible for the killings in Ukum: 

* Has Governor Alia reneged on his elder brother’s role to his younger ones in the bush?

* If the governor's brothers in the bush masterminded the Gbagir attacks, did they hear from him like he cautioned them during the mass burial of over 30 persons in Akpuuna village?

* Is governor Alia telling us that the killings are justifiable and ought not to be condemned by Senator Udende? 

* What heinous crime has Senator Udende committed that Governor Alia and his media apparatchiks are dragging him everywhere in the media ?

8. We call on Benue people to probe Governor Alia's involvement with the Fulani people now.

9. Let us ask the Governor how he has become a member of a steering committee for the implementation of PULAKU Fulani settlement pattern and has accepted to domesticate the initiative in Benue State.

10. Let us also ask Governor Alia why he has relegated the Benue Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law to the background and has allowed Fulanis and their cattle into Benue State.

11. It is also important to ask Governor Alia why he finds it very difficult to openly condemn Fulani attacks on Benue communities and has also refused to visit scenes of the attacks.

12. Meanwhile , Governor Alia has not purchased even a single operational vehicle for any of the security agencies in the state  since he took over, all the operational vehicles the security agencies are using currently were procured by his predecessor , chief Samuel Ortom . We challenge Alia's Chief Press Secretary to come out and dispute these facts.

 

13. After the burial of Ter Katsina-Ala,  Governor Alia invited Sankera stakeholders for a security meeting in Government House,  only for the Governor to be absent at the meeting venue. The stakeholders invited  included Army Generals of Sankera origin and despite his absence , the stakeholders arrived  at certain resolutions on how best to tackle insecurity in the area and communicated same to Governor Alia through his Chief of Staff but till today, he has never thought it wise to implement the resolutions .

14. Governor Alia visited Gbagir and came back without putting in place any security measure to forestall further attack , no security deployed to the area so herdsmen are still attacking Gbagir on a daily basis .

15. It has been alleged that the Governor's security Adviser and other appointees do not have access to him , he neither pick their calls nor call for security meetings . The only time he convened a security meeting was when he attempted to cancel the Guma APC primary elections so how can this Governor fight insecurity .

16. Only yesterday, we watched on national television in shock and disbelief as Governor Alia partook in an event in far away Sokoto State where the Tiv race was falsely accused and ridiculed by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III who branded Tiv people as thieves who stole Fulani cows. The Sultan turned round to pour encomiums on our Governor for changing the narrative to favour the Fulanis and for “coming back home”. 

17. The occasion presented governor Alia the platform and opportunity to object and correct the fallacy pushed by the Sultan on Tiv people as thieves of Fulani cattle, but when he mounted the rostrum, he thanked the Sultan and pledged his loyalty addressing him as "my daddy" despite the fact that he has never even for once addressed the Tor Tiv in that manner.

18. We members of Ukum Elites Assembly have compared notes and are not oblivious of the unholy romance between Governor Alia and the Sultanate. We call on the Governor to stop blackmailing Senator Udende who for now appears to be the saving grace to our precarious situation.

19. The 14-day ultimatum issued to herdsmen to vacate Benue lands has since expired and we call on Governor Alia to fully enforce the Open Grazing Prohibition Law of the State, if he does not harbour any skeleton in the cupboard.

20. We are no longer in the period of electioneering campaigns therefore, blackmail, propaganda and blame games will not help the security situation in Benue. We call on Governor Alia to sit up and marshall out plans to solve the security situation in the state in line with the oath he took to protect the lives and properties of the Benue man in 2023.

21. Recall, Governor Alia had initially accused Benue NASS members of writing a letter to herdsmen at the borders to come to Benue and graze openly and kill at will but till today, he has failed to either expose the people behind the letter or ask security agencies to arrest them even as he has the constitutional powers to do so.

22. Governor Alia appears bereft of ideas and his outings only portray him like a farmer who blames his working implements for his inability to do well on the farm. We advice him in this regard to desist from apportioning unnecessary blames and his handlers from making incisive comments but instead, synergize with stakeholders  across party lines as that remains the only option for him to succeed in the fight against criminality in Benue State.

23. The security situation in the state is beyond grandstanding postures. It is not a matter we should treat with kid gloves. We must make conscious efforts at addressing and admitting the realities and not some blame games. If governor Alia knows those perpetrating the killings, let him expose such persons with evidence and let them face the law.

24. Finally, we put it to governor Alia and his avalanche of war-like aides that Senator Udende has not committed any heinous crime by moving that motion of urgent public importance to draw the attention of the NASS and the presidency to the genocide visited on his people, so he should be allowed some breathing space.

Long Live Ukum Elites Assembly 

Long Live Ukum Nation 

Tyosoo Akaa -President 

Yoosu Soonen - Secretary