Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has given a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Garus Gololo, 48 hours to prove his allegation against him or tender public apology.
The Governor made this demand in a press statement signed by Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Terver Akase and made available to The Next Edition in Makurdi, on Sunday.
He said if Gololo would not prove his allegation in 48 hours or tender a public apology, he would be compelled to take legal action against him.
Governor Ortom was reacting to a report credited to Gololo in which he accused him (Governor Ortom) of sponsoring militia to kill Fulani people in Benue State.
According to the statement, Gololo has been maligning the Governor since the day Governor Ortom refused to appoint him as one of his aides.
The Governor who said Gololo is not new to false and malicious statements stated that “Since Governor Ortom turned down his request to be made Special Adviser preferring to appoint another Fulani man as his aide, Gololo has launched a ceaseless campaign of calumny and blackmail against the Governor.
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He explained further that ‘In January 2018, shortly after armed herdsmen attacked communities in Guma and Logo local government areas killing 73 people, Garus Gololo came out on behalf of the armed Fulani groups and accepted responsibility for the massacre alleging that the attacks were in retaliation for their cows which he claimed were rustled.
“Security reports, however, later proved that no Fulani cow was rustled before the 2018 attacks.
“Contrary to his recent claim, there is no attack on a Fulani person in any part of Benue State. All law abiding Fulanis are living in peace with other Benue people.”
He called on the security agencies to arrest for prosecution, Gololo, whom he described as “a harbinger of mayhem whose only trade is raising false alarms to throw the society into crisis.
“Gololo is closely working with other enemies of the State and he surely has questions to answer regarding the frequent attacks on innocent Benue people.
“In the meantime, Gololo has 48 hours to prove the accusation he leveled against Governor Ortom, failure of which he should tender a public apology to the Governor or face legal action.”
The Governor, however, urged people of the State and other Nigerians to disregard the alarm and continue to support security operatives with timely and useful information to guarantee the safety of lives and property.
