Benue state governor, Samuel Ortom has cause to be happy with the introduction of Amnesty for the restive youths that have been shedding blood all over the place.
The governor told newsman shortly after a private audience with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja today that over 700 youths have embraced the programme.
According to governor Ortom, the youths have surrendered thousands of various type of weapons to the government in return for the welfare package his government has prepared for them.
He said that before he took permission from President Buhari to introduce amnesty, the state was a theatre of armed robbery, kidnapping, raping, bloody ethnic conflicts, ritual killings and other violent crimes.
The governor said that a few months after the introduction of the amnesty, greater security and peace have returned to the state, paving the way for proper development.
Ortom said that in prosecuting his predecessor, Gabriel Suswam, he had made sure to strictly follow due process, constitutional and legal provisions.
According to him, several questions have been begging for answers as regard the manner in which the former governor managed the financial resources of the state, which he said, led him to set up two judicial enquiries.
“He (Suswam) went to court to stop the enquiries and won, but we are still going to pursue the matter legally until the people of the state are satisfied that the former governor dispensed their resources in accordance with the rule of the law.”
Governor Ortom confirmed that his state has already accessed the N28 Million federal government bailout fund and had used it to settle some arrears of backlog of workers salaries.
“We are already paying the interest on the bailout, which is a loan that is payable over a period of 20 years.” [myad]
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