Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom yesterday said herders were taking possession of premises of the Federal University of Agriculture (FUAM) in Makurdi.

Ortom spoke when the Commandant of the 35 Base Services Group of the Nigerian Airforce, Makurdi, Air Commodore, Olumide Olatunji, paid him an official visit.

The governor, who solicited the support of the Airforce to secure the state, disclosed that the current threat posed by the herders in the university community was brought to his knowledge at the weekend by the institution’s authorities.

“The herdsmen and their cows have taken over the University of Agriculture. They are disrupting the institution’s research. They will pull out cassava planted by the university people and give it to their cattle. This is provoking,” he said.

Earlier, Olatunji said the military would use all necessary peace building methods to achieve and sustain harmony among people of their host environment.

In a similar development, a joint team of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and House of Representatives Committee on Disaster Management led by Air Vice Marshal Charles Otegbade and Ali Isah respectively told the governor that they were in the state to commiserate with the victims of the recent attacks.

Spokesman of the team, Isah, expressed regret on the violent incidents in Agatu and other parts of the state just as he condemned the perpetrators. He assured that the House would try to find a lasting solution to the incessant crises between farmers and herdsmen.

The team presented relief materials which included foodstuff and building materials to the governor for victims of the crisis in Agatu and other parts of the state.

•Text courtesy of Daily Trust. Photo shows Governor Ortom.

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