Obasanjo visits graveyard of 73 herdsmen victims in Benue

By Zacheaus Somorin

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday arrived in Makurdi, the Benue State, to condole with the government and people over herdsmen’s attacks. Since the deaths caused by herdsmen’s attacks, the state has become a Mecca of sort to all politicians, opposition inclusive.

President Muhammadu Buhari is also expected to visit the state early next week. Obasanjo who landed Makurdi on Saturday on solidarity visit to the governor and people, was received at the airport by the state Governor Samuel Ortom and other top government officials in the state.

Not less than 158 persons have been reported killed in the state as a result of sustained herdsmen attacks in the state since the January 11th, an event that led to a mass burial and protest by youths in Makurdi, the state capital. Benue: Olusegun Obasanjo visits to condole the people, The former President is expected to visit the mass burial grave site and also meet stakeholders at the government house. He is also expected to visit the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp located in Agan Toll Gate, where over 34, displaced residents of the state are taking refuge. Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose had earlier paid a condolence visit to Benue State on Thursday, February 8.

During the visit, he declared support for the Anti-Grazing Law implemented by the state government in 2017, warning that it must not be compromised. Governor Nysome Wike of Rivers state also visited and donated some money to the state. Obasanjo, who was also in Maiduguri Friday said there will be no Boko Haram if the level of education in the north-east matched what is obtainable in the south-west.

He said “Boko Haram did not start overnight. It had an incubating period, but I do not know how long,” “And although I do not know how long it took to incubate, I am sure if the level of education in the North-East matched the level of education in the South-West, there wouldn’t have been Boko Haram. “If we do not cater for and educate women, children and youth, they will become the Boko Haram of 15 years to come. “Education is the panacea, education is the key, it inculcates the values that guard against the emergence of Boko Haram.”