The PDP Governors’ Forum has warned that the assassination attempt on the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, is an attack on all of them. The Forum also said that any attack on any Nigerian is an attack on everybody.
Governor Ortom narrowly escaped death on Saturday when those he identified as members of Miyeti Allah, swooped on him while he was in his farm, along the Makurdi- Gboko road, and rained bullets on him and his aides. He miraculously escaped by, in his own words, running a distance of over 1.5km.
In a strongly worded statement, personally, signed by the Chairman of the Forum, Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, the Forum expressed shock, and urged Security agents to quickly unravel those behind the attempt on Ortom’s life, for prosecution.
The statement reads:
“The PDP-Governors’ Forum has received with shock the assassination attempt on the Governor of Benue State, H.E. Dr Samuel Ortom.
“2. We wish therefore to warn that any attempt to harm any Nigerian will be viewed by the Forum as an attempt on all of us.
“3. We believe strongly that any dispute or perceived dispute should be and must be resolved amicably without resort to violence. Nigeria is not a Babana Republic, even though certain retrogressive elements and centrifugal forces are trying to consign Nigeria into a failed state.
“4. It remains the primary responsibility of government, especially the Federal government, who have monopoly of the coercive forces of state, to secure the lives and livelihoods of our people, however low or high. Every Nigerian deserves equal protection of the laws. Every citizen is entitled to freedom of speech and free exercise of all rights guaranteed in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, subject only to law.
“5 Nigeria is still a democracy and a nation of laws and not men.
Nobody, or group however highly placed should take the laws into their hands, even though some highly placed Federal government ministers seem to have surrendered to the nefarious activities of miscreants and mischief makers, bent on destabilising the nation. Self help is an invitation to anarchy and must be nipped in the bud.
“6. The PDP GOVERNORS are solidly united and are behind His Excellency, Governor Dr Samuel Ortom and will do the utmost to defend the rights and prerogatives of the Benue people who elected him.
“7. We expect the security agencies and other authorities of state to investigate this matter swiftly and thoroughly and bring the perpetrators to justice.
“8 .Enough is clearly enough.”
At the time of posting this, neither the Federal Government, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to which all the Governors belong, irrespective of Party affiliation, nor the Progressive Governors’ Forum, PGF, a forum for APC Governors has reacted.
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