Tor Tiv, Prof James Ayatse, has alleged that the killings of Benue indigenes in the New Year attacks are signs of ethnic cleansing agenda.
The monarch said this Thursday in Makurdi, during the Requiem Mass preceding the mass burial of 73 people killed by suspected herdsmen on January 1 in Guma and Logo local government councils.
He said the persistent attacks on Benue communities are worrisome, especially as the Federal government had failed to prevent re-occurrence.
He said the herdsmen have attacked Benue communities 47 times in five years, stressing that the attacks are akin to agenda of genocide.
“I therefore call on the Federal government to act swiftly by putting an end to this killings; this act of impunity must stop.”
He encouraged Governor Samuel Ortom to stand firm in his resolve to implement the anti-open grazing law, no matter the threats from the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore.
The paramount ruler called for prayers for the dead and appealed to the media to report the carnage that had befallen the state.
An elder statesman and Second Republic Minister of Steel and Industry, Mr. Paul Unongo, sounded a strong warning to the aggressors saying, “enough is enough”.
He said Benue people who fought in the civil war to sustain the unity of Nigeria would not continue to allow invaders to kill and maim their people if the Federal government failed to protect them.
“We are capable of raising a million people to defend our land if nothing is done to stop the killings; enough of the killings,” he warned.
Earlier in his funeral oration, the Catholic Bishop of Gboko Diocese, Most Rev. Williams Avenya, prayed for the repose of the souls of the dead, and called for prayers for the survivors of the attacks.
He regretted that despite the massive support the people gave to the APC at the Federal level, all the people could receive in return are the 73 corpses of their beloved ones murdered in cold blood.
Also in a speech, the Country Representative of the UN in Nigeria, Mr. Martins Ejidike, said the world body would consider the request for humanitarian assistance to the 50,000 people displaced by the attacks.
He assured that the UN would further discuss the details of the assistance with the governor, and prayed for peace in the state.