The Governor Hyacinth Alia’s led government has invited bandits killing innocent people for peace talk in Benue state.
Recall that no fewer than 18 people were gruesomely killed in the Mbache council ward. Katsina-Ala Local Government Area.
It was gathered that the killings were carried out on Friday night during the curfew earlier imposed on the LG by the state government, following the violent protest that rocked the Ukum LGA two weeks ago.
Reacting to the unfortunate incident in an interview with PUNCH on Sunday, the Commissioner for Information Culture and Tourism, Mathew Abo, accused the bandits of being unfair to Governor Hyacinth.
He said that the government had repeatedly invited the bandits for talks but they were insisting that the governor should declare amnesty first, while they continued to kill.
Meanwhile, a source in Katsina-Ala told the above mentioned media over the weekend that the gunmen, that attacked Mbache on Friday night belong to the Gonyon group.
The source who refused to review his identity, disclosed that the militant groups were angry with the state government.
READ MORE:Despite Curfew, Suspected Bandits Kill 18 in Benue Community
He said: “What we have on the ground in Katsina-Ala now generally is that the militants are saying that the government has betrayed them, that governor, during the campaign, promised that if it won the poll, the bandits will be free and be given compensation but up till now, nothing has happened.”
The state information commissioner, Abo, while addresing the source’s claim, accused the terrorists of not giving the government enough time to fulfill its promise to them.
He said: “What is the promise of the governor to the militants? Have they sheathed their swords?
“Immediately after the governor won the election and was sworn in, the militants started attacking, you don’t do that; they were supposed to wait for the government to take shape and every other thing would follow.
“The process of granting amnesty is not something you rise up one day and do; you have to start from somewhere; you have to work it out before the result is out.
“I think they are not being patient. We have been asking them what exactly their problem is and what they are agitating for, but no one has been able to come out and tell us.
“If you call them for a meeting to negotiate, none of them will come because they said, ‘Grant us amnesty first’, they are afraid that if they come out they will be arrested.
“So where do they want us to negotiate with them? It’s like they don’t have a direction.
“If they can come out and articulate their demands, the government will look at the demands and if it’s what the government can do, we can always do it.”
