BREAKING: Afenifere, South-South, Ohaneze-ndi-Igbo leaders denied landing permit for Middle Belt rally

Leaders of three major social-cultural organisations in the southern part of Nigeria were allegedly denied landing permit to grace the Middle-Belt conference in Makurdi the Benue state capital.

Chairman of the Middle-Belt Forum, Elders Forum, Air Commandore (rtd) Dan Suleiman who disclosed this while speaking at the Middle-Belt rally in Makurdi said, leaders were left stranded at the airport for five hours.

He maintained that the leaders which were to attend the conference in Makurdi converged in Abuja, to board a flight but were left stranded at the airport over the alleged refusal for a flight to land in Makurdi.


Air Commodore Sulaiman said despite challenges confronting the region, the Middle-Belt will remain united and continue to march forward to greatness.

He said there was need for Nigeria to be restructured to give way to fair sharing of resources insisting that justice must be delivered to the people of the region.

Governor Darius Ishaku appreciated National Assembly for initiating a bill to establish state and local government police.

He sued for accelerated attention and passage of the bill adding that If passed and subsequently signed into law it would go a long way to address the incessant killings, particularly in the Middle-Belt region.


“Killing people is another form of corruption and the worst of it all. “When one steals one million he is prosecuted but when some people kill innocent people in their sleep they are allowed to walk freely. “This must stop. “Nigeria is a great country but it is wasting away. “Every state in Nigeria is a potential country of its own” he added.

Also speaking Governor Samuel Ortom said Middle-Belt region has lost their ancestors and investments to the herdsmen terrorist invasion.

The Governor noted that the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore were still moving freely after calling for their arrest a several fora.


He reiterated his call for the arrest of the leadership of the association because before they commenced the killings in this year and threatened that if the law was not repealed they will unleash terror on the Benue people”.

“They had done that several times and killed scores of people. If they are not arrested we cannot rest nor stop crying. We have decided and taken them to court as law abiding people. Ranching should not be a govt business but for those who want to venture into it”.

“For us to move forward everyone must be protected as the law provided. Both the majority and minority nationalities need each other for survival. The minority groups in the country should not be taken for granted because they too are key holders in the Nigerian project”.