The Former Director-General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr. Paul Angya, on Tuesday said that 50 per cent of the land in Benue State has been occupied by armed Fulani herdsmen.

Dr. Angya, who disclosed this during an interview with journalists in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, noted that attacks by herdsmen and occupation of farming lands were already affecting the state’s status as the ‘Food Basket of the nation’ in particular as well as the country’s food security.

Dr. Angya said: “At the moment, Benue is besieged from all sides by armed herdsmen, vagabonds and bandits. Our rural populace can no longer go to their farms; they are maimed, killed, women raped and crops ransacked and thrown out as feeds to cattle.”

The 2023 governorship aspirant in the state said he wanted to use his expertise and security training to tackle the security challenge in the state if given the mandate to govern the state.

He prayed God to help end the killings in the state, commending Governor Samuel Ortom for enacting the Prohibition on Open Grazing and Ranches Establishment Law, which he said is the only panacea to bring to an end the intractable feud between herdsmen and farmers in the country.

Dr. Angya decried the poor state of both federal and state roads in the state, pointing out that the Federal Roads Management Agency (FERMA) was 10 years behind in road rehabilitation.

(New Telegraph)