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Former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, has advised security operatives to guarantee the safety of lives and properties to prevent people from resorting to self-help.
Mark said this while reacting to the attack on Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, by gunmen suspected to be herdsmen.
A statement by his media aide, Paul Mumeh, quoted the mark as saying: “If a state governor can be so brazenly attacked, what would they not do to the ordinary citizens?”
“Let me state clearly that Benue people are receptive and accommodating. But this should not be misconstrued or mistaken for weakness. Enough of this malady.
“If our government and security operatives can no longer guarantee peoples’ safety in their homes, farms or places of business, I am worried that the situation may compel citizens to resort to self help. That is the situation, we cannot contemplate and must not be allowed to happen because the consequences would be catastrophic.
“Therefore, Federal Government and all the security agencies must of a necessity come to terms with the painful reality of the unabating insecurity in the land and resolve to end it,” he said.
Mark, who hailed Ortom for his doggedness, advised the governor to see the attack as a reason to beef up security in the state, saying he has lived up to his oath to defend and protect the people of Benue State.