Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue has recounted the near-death attack from gunmen along the Makurdi/Gboko road in the Makurdi local government area of the state on Saturday, March 20.
Speaking with BBC Pidgin, Governor Ortom said his attackers are about 15 in number and their main aim was to assassinate him.
Also, ThisDay reports during the attack, the governor had to run about 1.5 kilometers to escape being hurt, adding worse things would have happened if not for the swift intervention of his security detail.
He disclosed: “If not for my security men and God I would have been dead by now, I ran over 1.5 kilometers to escape while my security men repelled the herdsmen.”
Furthermore, Ortom revealed that from intelligence received from security agents, the attack came just a few days after he was described by the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Kautal in Yola as a thorn in the flesh.
Although he said his life is in the hands of God, the governor vowed to send a letter of petition to President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigeria’s military heads against the herders’ group.