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 Daily Independent Online.
* Monday, July 26, 2004.
Declare emergency rule in Benue, Waku urges
Obasanjo
By
Chesa Chesa
Correspondent, Abuja
To
end the violence in some parts of Benue State and save the people from
alleged misrule by Governor George Akume, a prominent son of the state,
and former senator, Joseph Waku, has asked President Olusegun Obasanjo to
immediately declare a state of emergency in the state.
Speaking in
Abuja at the weekend, Waku also demanded for the immediate sack of the
Minister of Internal Affairs, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, for allegedly arming and
housing the militiamen who wreaked havoc on Kwande local government area
of the state, where over 500 persons have been reportedly killed.
“If there is
any state due for a state of emergency, it is Benue. Only a state of emergency can
dislodge the militia and restore the confidence of the people.
“I am calling
on the Federal Government to take prompt action to save the people of
Benue who are no longer safe under Akume,” stated the former senator.
He argued
that the situation in Plateau State that required emergency rule was
better than that of Benue now because in the former, “there were elements
of religion but in Benue, its completely political, no ethnic, religious
or land matters.”
Accusing the
Benue State Government of arming the militia, Waku said it was a danger
signal because the armed men could go on to annex parts of neighbouring
Taraba, Kogi and Basarawa states.
He recalled
that Ayu had been indicted by a recent Senate report for partly fuelling
the political crisis in Kwande area of Benue State, and called on
Obasanjo to sack the minister forthwith.
Waku said:
“Ayu should be sacked now.
He could even be planning to use the militia to topple the Federal
Government. What happened in
Benue is like a civil war, so he could replicate this nationwide.”
He said he
was particularly worried that Ayu was said to have assured the militiamen
of protection because of his position as Internal Affairs minister.
Waku, who was
an opposition leader in the state, flayed the government’s claims that
the intense shooting at Ayu’s Gboko residence last Friday was the
handiwork of the opposition.
He said the
gunshots, which lasted about five hours without police intervention was
rather the handiwork of enraged militiamen who were protesting non
payment of N20, 000 weekly being what they were allegedly promised for
the raids in Kwande.
Citing police
investigation reports, Waku said no damage was done to the house and the
armed men only shot into the air to attract attention to their plight,
particularly on being informed that they would soon be disbanded and disarmed.
“They waited
to finish up their ammunition as it turned out they were in the house of
their master,” Waku alleged.
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