6 LGAs in Benue Under Fulani Terrorists Siege — ALGON Chairman

The Chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria in Benue State, Mike Uba on Thursday raised said that six local government areas of the state are under siege by Fulani herders.

Uba stated this during a press conference held in Makurdi and added that the attacks were being carried out simultaneously in the past two weeks.

According to Uba, the affected six local government areas include; Kwande, Agatu, Gwer West, Guma, Makurdi and Logo.

The ALGON boss who is the chairman of Guma LGA said that the attacks started shortly after the presidential and national assembly election, adding that several communities have been deserted and occupied by herders.

He said, “This is the first time in the history of Fulani herders, terrorists attacks in the state that six local governments are under attacks simultaneously.

“These are Guma, Makurdi, Gwer-West, Kwande, Agatu and some forays in Logo. In the past, attacks would be in two or three; Guma, Gwer West and Agatu.

“The new dimension speaks volumes of Command Room Coordination and Strategy. This is a strategic attempt that is also politically timed to coincide with the electoral season,” he added.

Uba, however, appealed to  President Muhammad Buhari to protect the lives and property of the people of the state.

(Nigerian Tribune, header modified) 

Rivers Governor, Wike Vows To Chase Presidential Candidate, Atiku, Ayu, Others Out Of PDP

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s national chairman Iyorchia Ayu, and a few other party leaders, according to Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, have no role to perform for the party.
Wike swore to expel them from the party and begin its reconstruction.

At the commissioning of a road project in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State on Thursday, the governor made it known that he placed the blame for the PDP’s defeat in the recently concluded presidential election on those who, in his words, failed to abide by the PDP Constitution.
As the “second phase of the battle,” the governor referred to the action.
“These people left our party in 2014-2015, and our party lost. They returned, and our party lost again,” he remarked. Our celebration has been devastated by them. They will be driven from our party by us. They don’t participate in our celebration in any way.

Wike also criticized the PDP leadership for allegedly refusing to abide by the party’s constitution while accusing Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the Independent National Election Commission, of breaking election rules.

He continued to make fun of the PDP leaders for organizing the demonstration against INEC by referring to them as “student unions.”

PANDEF Worries About Christians’ Fate Under a Muslim-Muslim Presidency

Olorogun Vincent Oyibode, the national deputy youth leader of the PAN Niger Delta Forum, has expressed grave concern over the results of the 2023 presidential election, in which Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress was declared the victor. He has warned that with a Muslim-Muslim presidency which has no place for Christians, Christianity may face difficult times in the future.

Olorogun Oyibode, Commissioner for DESOPADEC, Delta State, spoke at a global press conference on Monday in Warri on the subject of “Outcome of 2023 Presidential Elections: Implication for National Unity, the fate of southern Nigeria and Christians,” and expressed concerns about the political and religious “temperament” of Kassim Shetima, the Vice President-elect, as well as his fanatical Islamic identity. This indicates that Nigerian Christians are under significant risk. Oyibode said, “We ought to be prepared for what is to come.

According to him, “We canvassed a position that was against the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the APC and drummed support for the PDP before the general election. But our elders decided to back Peter Obi of the Labour Party, which we counseled against since we thought it was not strategically sound for the nation’s political environment. Today, the Obi movement succeeded in splitting the PDP vote in South-South and South-Eastern Nigeria, resulting in the election of the APC, whose appalling performance caused Nigeria to experience untold suffering.

‘’ In spite of our misgivings, we voted for the Muslim-Muslim ticket, and the results would be disastrous for Nigerian Christianity. The inference is that a Christian would probably not be there when issues regarding religious peace are being discussed in the presidency. Church tax decisions might simply be made by executive order, and our churches should be prepared for tough times in the near future because they will undoubtedly have to start paying taxes.

The Islamist agenda is taking shape, and Nigerian Christians may have a grim future. It may have been avoided if Atiku Abubakar had had complete backing. Sadly, the majority of church leaders served as shills and recruiters for the Peter Obi movement. The center can no longer support the situation as it currently stands, Oyibode continued.

He disclosed that the Nigeria 1999 constitution mentioned Sharia 73 times, Grand Khandi 54 times, Islam 28 times, Muslim 10 times and no single mention of Christ, Christians, Christianity or Church at all.

‘’The constitution has already skewed the legal identity of Nigeria towards an Islamic state. With the Muslim-Muslim president and Vice President, a full blown Islamic identity for Nigeria is on the way. They will be riding roughshod on the pains of Christians with impunity. The power distribution in the APC presidential ticket does not factor Christians at all. This is a source of worry for us at the PANDEF youth wing’’, he said.

The group also lambasted INEC for failing to deliver a credible election as promised, stressing that the manual collation of results against the transmission of same from the unit level was an aberration that could not guarantee the credibility of the process.

‘’However, we want to demand from Bola Ahmed Tinubu to recognize the secular identity of Nigeria as a nation. The president-elect must take the Niger Delta question as a cardinal agenda of his administration by taking the 16 point agenda raised by PANDEF before the FG in 2016 seriously.

Any failure to attend to our queries can lead to unrest in the Niger Delta area. Our zone harbors the liquid gold which is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy. We are watching as events continue to unfold. We pray and hope for the best for Nigeria’’ the group added.

Herders attack six Benue communities

Six communities in the local government areas of Kwande, Agatu, Gwer-West, Guma, Makurdi, and Logo have reportedly been attacked by alleged herders in the state, according to Mike Uba, chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria in Benue State.

In a press conference with media in Makurdi, Uba stated that the attacks took place concurrently over the course of the previous two weeks and that they began soon after the presidential and National Assembly elections.

He observed that some towns had been abandoned and were now inhabited by herdsmen.

He declared, “Six local governments are being attacked at the same time for the first time in the state’s history of herder assaults and terrorist strikes.

They include Guma, Makurdi, Gwer-West, Kwande, Agatu, and a few ventures into the Logo. Attacks in the past would be divided into two or three groups: Guma, Gwer-West, and Agatu.

“The additional dimension says a lot about command room strategy and coordination. This is a calculated effort intended to coincide with election season.

Uba, who serves as the head of the Guma Local Government Area, pleaded with President Major-General Muhammad Buhari (ret.) to safeguard the safety of people and property in the state.