Governor Ortom Reacts To Claims By Prof. Muhammad That Benue State Belongs To Fulani

The Benue State Government has reacted to the claim by Professor Umar Labdo Muhammad of the Faculty of Humanities, Northwest University, Kano that Benue State belongs to the Fulani by conquest.The Professor, in a Facebook post that went viral on Thursday, had also insisted that no one can expel the Fulani from Benue. The University Don predicated his claim on the fact that half of Benue State is part of theBauchi Emirate and also half of the Adamawa Emirate.

He said Benue is “part and parcel of Sokoto Caliphate” as such nobody has the right to expel Fulani from the state, adding that Fulani are the largest single nation in the African continent and they have “remained unbeatable throughout their history.”Chief Press Secretary to the Benue State Governor, Terve Akase, demanded that the professor provide evidence to back up his claims. According to Akase, it was unprofessional for the Don to come up with such claims without properly acquainting himself with enough points to back up his claims.

Akase said he (Prof. Muhammad) should be able show proofs of ownership of Benue by Fulani in books and also tell the people what year Benue was conquered. He said, “Did he [Prof. Muhammad] provide evidence to his claim? “Which of the books written by great men proves what he said? He should also be able to tell us in what century the Fulani conquered Benue. “Muhammad should be able to back up his claims that Benue is Fulani’s conquered land because you don’t just come up with such claims.”