Ortom Has Failed In His Responsibility Of Protecting Lives And Property Of Citizens, But Is Focused On Fighting His Predecessor-CCSG.

COALITION of Civil Societies Group, CCSG, yesterday, blamed the Benue State Governor, Dr. Samuel Ortom, for the continued incarceration of his predecessor, Mr. Gabriel Suswam, by the Department of State Services, DSS, and called for his unconditional release without further delay.

Secretary-General of the coalition, Comrade Abubakar Ibrahim, told journalists in Abuja that Ortom has failed in his responsibility of protecting the lives and property of citizens, but is focused on fighting his predecessor.

He therefore urged the DSS to “disregard the malicious and selfish claim of the governor that Suswam is a security threat as the only security threat is Ortom himself due to his inability to provide good governance and quality leadership for the good people of the state. “The obvious fact that scores of Benue indigenes have been killed, maimed and displaced from their ancestral homes since the emergence of Ortom as governor is a testimony of his incapacity and lack of will to carry out the most important responsibility of any government to its citizens, hiding under the guise of a single individual as a security threat is not only preposterous, but also a brazen display of gross incompetence.

“Benue State today, ranks among one of the most underdeveloped states in Nigeria, because of the directionless leadership of the incumbent governor. The rate of poverty is alarming as the once food basket of the nation can no longer farm at optimal capacity due to security challenges that the governor has deliberately failed to resolve.

“Benue is still among the states owing civil servants’ salaries withteachers being the worst hit in this alleged act of massive corruption that has been ongoing for the past two years”, he alleged. Ibrahim enjoined Ortom to “learn the act of protecting lives and property from Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State and the act of development from Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State”. He therefore called the attention of relevant stakeholders, members of the international community and the generality of Nigerians to the continuous incarceration of Suswam, saying “this act does not only violate his fundamental human rights, but shows how much lip service Nigeria pays to the concept of the rule of law”.
“While we do not celebrate crime in any guise, the flagrant disregard for extant laws in the investigation, arrest and prosecution of perceived lawbreakers will only lead to a circle of lawlessness capable of throwing the nation into a state of anarchy. “If anybody is arrested for breaking the law of the land, such individual rather than being incarcerated perpetually should be tried in accordance with existing laws and the court. The investigating agency should be left with the sole prerogative of ascertaining whether such individual is guilty or not”, he said. The group’s scribe also urged all security agencies to as a matter of urgent national importance imbibe the culture of constantly respecting and upholding the rule of law.

He noted that President Muhammadu Buhari’s achievements on the war against corruption “can be easily eroded or made inconsequential if respect for the rule of law, which is the focal point of any constitutional democracy, is constantly and deliberately not upheld by relevant agencies of government”.