Intelligence report which was submitted to the Senate chambers on
Wednesday was witnessed with credibility crisis; hence, 15 out of 25
Senators who are members did not sign the report.
A copy of the report seen by DAILY POST which was condemned and
rejected by the red Chambers at Wednesday's plenary showed that, the
joint Chairman, Senator Abu Ibrahim, his co-counterpart, Senator
Shaaba Lafiagi with only 6 others endorsed the report. While 2 clerks
who served the committee also signed.
Though, the report was condemned and rejected at Wednesday's plenary,
for being biased and one sided, it also showed that the committee
relied heavily on the Inspector General of Police's 8 point submission
when he appeared before the committee on 2nd February, 2018.
Part of IG's report which was adopted by the Senate Committee,
curiously, was his visit to Tunga in Awe local government of Nasarawa
State where he discovered that they were no armed militias as alleged
by governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State as if those armed militias
would wait to receive the IG as their august visitor.
The report reads: "That on the strength of claims by the Benue State
governor, Mr. Samuel Ortom at the stakeholders meeting alleging that
there exist armed militia camped inTunga, in Awe LGA of Nasarawa State
awaiting to unleashed mayhem on Nasarawa people, he further visited
Nasarawa State for fact finding, and engagement with stakeholders
there, where he found that those claims were untrue."
Secondly, the report indicated that about 21 attacks occurred within
one month in Benue State alone, while it claimed that 10 of those
attacks were carried out by Tiv militia groups and not Fulani
herdsmen. How the Committee arrived at that decisions was not clear,
but attempt to speak with Senator Ibrahim for further clarification
did not yield results.
Further study of IGP, Ibrahim Idris and Senate Committee report also
revealed that the committee tactically avoided comment that the Benue
State governor's Anti-grazing law as being responsible for killings of
Benue people by Fulani herdsmen.
A member of the Committee who did not append his signature told DAILY
POST that it would amount to rubishing the State lawmakers by saying
that the Anti-grazing law which was legally enacted was responsible
for crisis in Benue.
"How can the IGP tell us that the Anti-grazing law in Benue was
responsible for killings in parts of Benue. Come to think of it, we
are doing the same thing at the National Assembly."
"State lawmakers are our junior colleagues, and in making any law,
they would call for public hearing to know the minds of the people
they make law for. I cannot be a party to that report. But don't quote
me anyway", he pointed.
In the IGP's report, he submitted to the Senate Committee
investigating killings in Guma, and Logo local governments in Benue,
he has insisted that the killing was triggered by implementation of
anti-open grazing law in Benue which took effect from 1st November,
2017.
The report also pointed that governor Ortom has armed untrained
civilian JTF/livestocks guards of major Tiv ethnic nationality, saying
the composition of JTF was lopsided by not including other tribes.
He also accused the governor of display of corpses during burial
ceremony of the deceased, saying, Ortom would have ignored Tiv
tradition and buried those corpses secretly so as not to excerbate
anger.
It also added that suspected herdsmen ambushed Police patrol on 31st
December, 2017 at Tse-Agbo-Uko Azerger village in Logo LGA, where a
female cop was shot and two others matcheted by suspected herdsmen.
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