Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has voiced great sorrow over the deaths of nearly 40 travelers in Sokoto State by armed people believed to be bandits.
According to the Daily Post, people traveling from the state’s Sabon Birni Local Government Area to Sokoto Town were attacked by armed men who set fire to their car and burned them alive.
Governor Ortom, who extended his condolences to his Sokoto State counterpart, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, over the event, lamented the perpetrators’ lack of fear. Nathaniel Ikyur, the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, released a statement on Wednesday expressing the Governor’s response.
Ortom remembered bitterly about how Nigeria had been transformed into a killing ground by the bandits who are now terrorizing the country, causing helpless residents seeking basic necessities to live in constant fear.
The governor condemned the unjustified attacks on numerous communities, claiming that they are jeopardizing the country’s unity and damaging citizens’ faith in their government.
He urged Nigerians to avoid partisanship and work together with the government and security forces to reveal terrorists and preserve the country from the indiscriminate atrocities perpetrated by murderous outsiders.
Mr Ortom restated his prior calls to security services not to be intimidated by the challenges facing the country, but to remain strong in their efforts to defend Nigeria’s national integrity by removing terrorists from the country’s borders.
