Posted by Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has pledged to bring the most important Fulani socio-cultural organization, Miyetti Allah, before the ICC over alleged invasions and killings in the state by armed Fulani herdsmen.
The decision was announced by Mr. Michael Gusa, the state's attorney general and commissioner for justice, who intimated that the number of killings in the state had increased.
He emphasized the significance of the government taking the appropriate measures because, according to documents, the perpetrators of the state's genocide were already known to their victims.
The National Secretary-General of Miyetti Allah, Alhaji Saleh Alhassan, recently threatened to bring Governor Samuel Ortom to the ICC. According to the Commissioner, the threat was preemptive because the organization feared that the state government would take the group to court.
“I believe that what they claimed was simply a preemptive move by the Benue State Government, as we all know that they have always appeared to defend and take responsibility for the killings in the state.
Therefore, they are merely making that claim about Ortom in order to anticipate what the Benue State will do. Remember that the Fulani Nationality Movement, or FUNAM, came up to claim credit even after the attack and attempted murder of Governor Ortom.
Therefore, the state's ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing have been brought to their doorstep. We have all the necessary information and records of their statements.
“Recall that they declared publicly that they would not observe the law when the anti-open grazing law was passed in 2017. And when the implementation began, they arrived on New Year's Day and murdered a great number of citizens in the state.
“That massacre served as the impetus for the state's 2018 mass burial. They came and accepted accountability in an effort to stop the enforcement of the law.
In order to seek justice for his people, he added, “we will turn to the ICC over the subject because we know our killers, we know those who are carrying out the killings in Benue State.”