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Buhari condemns attack on Ortom, warns against politicising incident
BY KAZIE UKO
President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the assassination attempt on Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, saying the series of brutal attacks on individuals and communities in the state, with the latest targeting the governor, was unacceptable.
In a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, in Abuja, Sunday night, the president warned that the unfortunate incident must not be politicised.
Shehu in the statement said that President Buhari welcomed the dispatch of a high-level team of crack investigators to the state from the police headquarters in Abuja, urging the officers to uncover who, or whatsoever, was behind the attacks and bring them to justice.
READ: Hold Buhari, APC responsible if Ortom is assassinated – Wike
According to the statement, “In expressing his sympathies, and that of the government of the federation to Governor Ortom and all Benue indigenes, President Buhari said the unfortunate incident must not be politicized, reiterating that an attack on one Nigerian is an attack on all Nigerians.
“The President directed the Police to undertake a thorough investigation into the incident involving the governor and into all such incidents affecting individuals and communities in the state.”
“Let there be an open and transparent investigation and whoever is linked to it should be caught and be made to face the law,” the President directed.
Police IG orders full investigation into assassination attack
Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu, has ordered full-scale investigations into the circumstances surrounding the attack and attempt on the life of Gov Ortom.
Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Mr Frank Mba, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
Ortom was attacked on Saturday in his farm at the outskirts of Makurdi, the State Capital.
READ: Ortom indicts Miyetti Allah over assassination attack
Mba said that the IGP condemned the incident and directed the Commissioner of Police in charge of Benue to strengthen and improve security in the state, particularly around the governor.
The police boss also directed the CP to carry out painstaking investigations into the incident and ensure the arrest and prosecution of persons indicted in the course of the investigations.
According to Mba, to ensure a speedy, thorough and conclusive investigations into the matter, the IGP ordered the immediate deployment of a team of specialised investigators from the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID), to support the Benue State Police Command.
Mba called for calm and pledged the commitment of the Force to continue to do its best in stabilising the security situation in the country.