Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has pledged to legally procure AK-47, AK-49 and other sophisticated weapons for the state-owned security outfit.
The governor stated this on Thursday while unveiling the security outfit, Community Volunteer Guards in Makurdi the state capital.
According to the governor, 500 personnel drawn from the 23 local government areas of the state were recruited in the first batch of guards.
He accused the Federal Government of consistently failing to tackle the security crisis in the state, stressing that the move on arming the guards became necessary to protect Benue people from “Fulani terrorists”.
He said, “Given the fact that the FG has consistently failed to disarm the Fulani terrorists who have continued to maim and kill our people at will, the State Government is going to apply for a License to legally procure AK47, AK49 and other sophisticated weapons for the Benue State Volunteers Guards to enable them tackle these murderous terrorists effectively.
“To do this effectively, the Benue State Government had approved a two-week capacity building programme for Five Hundred (500) personnel of the Community Volunteer Guards to learn some basic paramilitary aspects”.