*Hold meeting, pressure Buhari to stop plans
*Say he is in breach of the constitution
By our correspondents
Some Northern States Governors of the All Progressive Congress (APC) are allegedly holding secret meetings with President Muhammadu Buhari in a bid to stop Benue state governor Samuel Ortom in his plans to from armed vigilante groups in the state.
A source well aware of the development who spoke with Daybreak newspaper revealed that many states governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in some northern state are not comfortable with the community policing security arrangement of the Benue state government and have risen up against it on grounds that it is against the constitution and an attempt to from a parallel security outfit in Benue state.
Daybreak recalls that Thursday last week the Benue State Government, had approved the establishment of vigilante groups to combat the high rate of insecurity in the state.
Governor Samuel Ortom while briefing journalists in Makurdi on the outcome of the expanded stakeholders’ meeting held at the new banquet hall of the Government House said renewed attacks on the people by armed herdsmen had overstretched security agencies, noting that the state government had decided to enforce “the law to provide for the establishment of community volunteer guards (vigilantes).”
He said the vigilantes would be constituted from the community to local government levels to complement the operations of conventional security agencies across the state.
Ortom explained that the recruitment process would commence immediately, adding that those to be recruited would be within the age range of 18 to 50 and mostly ex-service men.
“Those to be recruited are ex-service men and people from 18 to 50 years, and they must have stable sources of income and must have lived in their respective communities for a minimum of six years and they must be of impeccable characters and be loyal. All the vigilantes must carry weapons that are licensed so that anytime there is external aggression, they must be able to rise up to defend themselves.” Ortom had said
He said the vigilantes would have the full support of the state government with logistics as provided in the law, adding that the recruitment of personnel would be carried out in the 23 local government areas of the state.
Our source revealed that an APC governor of a Northwestern state that has been in the news recently for the spate of students kidnapping besetting his state is spear heading the opposition against Ortom and championing the anti Ortom security plans.
The dependable source revealed that the Governor zoomed out of his state on Saturday for Abuja at the heat of an APC primary election crises in his state, to seek audience with the president alongside some other APC governors.
The plans of the governors according to our source is to persuade president Buhari to move against Ortom by making him see that Ortom is in breach of the constitutional with his plans to arm vigilantes across the Benue state.
The fear, according to our source is that the Benue governor’s security arrangements will be duplicated and spread to other states if allowed to stand.
“ the fear of the governors is that if Governor Ortom is allowed to have his way other state will sooner than later follow suit and this would be a disaster for the federal government and the security architecture in the country as it would lead to an uncontrolled arms proliferation across the country”
