Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State on Sunday showed remorse over his comment on the anti-grazing law in Benue State and apologised to his Benue State counterpart, Samuel Ortom.
In the heat of the crisis over the killing of 73 people in Benue State by suspected herdsmen, Lalong blamed Ortom for signing the anti-grazing law, suggesting that it was the basis for the attack.
He said he warned Ortom about it but he was obstinate.
The comment drew the anger of so many people, including some citizens of Plateau State who berated him over his comment.
Many dissociated with him over the issue and said he should have rather commiserated with the people of Benue over the gross loss of lives.
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Obviously realizing his mistake, Lalong expressed his apology.
“Concerning my comment in respect to the crisis in Benue State, I humbly apologise for my comment because I’ve seen that it was really misconceived and misinterpreted, that generated a lot of social media write ups here and there.
“So, I apologise for that because either argument for or against does not help the matter due to the fact that it involves loss of lives.
“I have great respect for unity of the Middle Belt. I would not want to say Plateau is fighting Benue State at all, we are all brothers and sisters.
“Benue was created out of Plateau; Nasarawa was created out of Plateau, we still remain brothers and sisters in Benue State.’’
The governor used the opportunity to commiserate with the people of Benue and called for unity.
“My prayer is that God will continue to give them and every Nigerian the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss,” he said.
He stressed that there was need “at this time when lives are involved, for all of us to join hands to ensure that we work towards the resolution of the matter and help in finding peace not only in Benue but in Nigeria.’’
