The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has told the Minister of Defence, retired Brigadier General Mansur Dan-Ali, to stop being the mouth piece of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association.
Ortom said this during an engagement session with Editors in Abuja.
The session was organized by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa.
Ortom said Dan Ali’s recent comments against anti-open grazing laws had portrayed the government in bad light.
He said with the tension associated with herdsmen-farmers conflicts, public officers should be sensitive to what takes place in the society.
He said: “Honourable Minister (Audu Ogbeh), just one thing: I’m part of this government and I appreciate what this government is doing.
“Since the Honourable Minister of Defence is not a member of the National Economic Council and you are constantly in NEC and you are a member of the Federal Executive Council where other ministers will be there, what we have said here is very important: there should have be some level of caution.
“I wonder if the Minister of Defence has time to read newspapers, watch and listen to electronic media, he would have felt the feelings of Nigerians on these killings.
“His comments were not good enough.
“In a time like this, we should be sensitive to what is going on.
“When the young man was making his remarks, he was literally shaking and it is coming from the heart and that is how most Nigerians are.
“I wonder if the minister has had time to read the newspapers, watch and listen to electronic media, he would have felt the feelings of Nigerians for him calling for the suspension of a legitimate law by various states.
“It is not good enough, it is casting the government in bad light and the minister of the Federal Republic should represent the interest of Nigerians.
“He should not be the mouthpiece of Miyetti Allah in a conflict involving Nigerians, especially when it is not directly under his technical supervision.”
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