Just before he was sworn in as governor of Benue State, Mr Samuel Ortom led a delegation last month to see then President-elect Muhahammadu Buhari, to acquaint him with the festering crisis that often erupts between the communities of farmers on the one hand and cattle herders on the other.
The visit illustrated one of the enduring challenges that the state had faced in the last several years. Indeed, as the delegation made its way to Abuja, reports of another bloody encounter emerged, in which the Benue State Commissioner of Police, Mr Hyacinth Dogara, said 25 people were killed by suspected herdsmen in some villages of Logo local Government Area of the state. Villagers claimed that the death toll was much higher, asserting that they buried 100 people, mostly in mass graves.
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