The Benue State House of Assembly has given a seven-day ultimatum to Joseph Har, the Special Adviser on Internal Security to Governor Hyacinth Alia, to halt the killings of Benue farmers and the open grazing of cows or resign his position.

The Speaker of the Assembly, Aondona Dajoh, gave this directive on Wednesday following a motion on security matters moved by the lawmaker representing Adoka-Ugboju State Constituency in the Otukpo Local Government Area, Michael Audu, where 15 people were killed the previous day.

The lawmakers lamented the decision of the state government banning the enforcement of Section 3 of the Benue State Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of 2017, accusing the special adviser of colluding to escalate the killings.

Residents of Agatu, Apa and Otukpo local government areas have come under attacks since the beginning of the year with the killing of many farmers.

In Guma, Logo and Gwer West, the story is the same but the influx of herdsmen and their cows into the state grazing openly is now a source of concern for the lawmakers.

Har appeared before the House and admited to suspending the arrest and enforcement of section three of the law, and the lawmakers thereafter accused him of complicity.

In a unanimous decision, the lawmakers gave the security adviser and his team seven days to fix the problem or resign.

The Majority Leader of the Assembly, Saater Tiseer, insisted that the law banning open grazing subsist, as he wondered why security agencies and government appointees left Benue communities vulnerable.

Nineteen out of the 23 local government areas have come under attacks by suspected herdsmen, a concern the lawmakers want addressed. (Channels TV)

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