You are a traitor, Fulani paid gun – Tiv youths blast Mike Msuaan over attack on Ortom

The Tiv Youth Organisation Worldwide, the umbrella body of Tiv ethnic group youths, has frowned at a statement credited to one Mike Msuaan, who claims to be speaking on behalf of “Tiv Youth Council”.

Mike Msuaan had called on Governor Samuel Ortom to come back from abroad to pay arrears of salaries and pensions owed Benue State civil servants.

This follows Governor Ortom’s call for the release of the embattled leader of the Indegenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.

Responding to the attack on governor Ortom by the Tiv Youth Council, the Tiv Youth Organisation Worldwide described Mike Msuaan as an impostor who is talking for a price.

The group in a statement by its President General, Timothy Hembaor, said Msuaan is on the payroll of Miyetti Allah as a snitch and a paid gun.

The statement cautioned Msuaan and his cohorts to “retrace their steps and stop trading Tiv land for a morsel of food.”
The statement reads below:

This kind of talk is adversarial and an insult to the dignity of the office and person of the governor of the state. It is possible that trips abroad will offer succour to the problems afflicting Benue State and nothing affects Benue State more than the security challenge we now face as a people. The international community is the best way to draw attention to the local problems we have and if our governor has taken our problems abroad, the least we can do is to pray for the success of the mission. The sponsors of Mike Msuaan know this and they have forced him to earn his keep and say the rubbish he is raising.

If the governor is asking for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, it is quite in line with the thinking of the Nigerian government. When 73 Tiv people were massacred by Miyetti Allah, who even claimed responsibility, the federal government did not pursue the matter, neither did they respond to the demand of the Nigerian public to declare the armed herders as a terrorist group. The matter is even getting worse. It is impossible for Tiv farmers to access their farms because herdsmen have taken over the land and people of the state are living in camps. The situation was has ushered in a food crisis.

Nnamdi Kanu is fighting for his people and the only way to get justice and peace is to listen to his cries. If the federal government wants a peaceful country, it must listen and respond to local incidents of injustice rather than allow the Fulani to ride roughshod over other nationalities. These are issues Mike Msuaan will not care about because he is a mercenary.

We challenge Mike Msuaan to point out where he has raised his voice over the killings and massacre in Tiv land. Or even his Moon clan which is under occupation by the Fulani. It is not sensible for a representative of the people as he claims to refuse to identify with his people and exist only on Facebook and local media.

He is from the Moon people of Kwande and he has decided to work against his clansmen for purposes of materialism.

The Moon people are very industrious, eking out a living in their pristine environment. They are also custodians of some aspects of the cultural heritage that defines Tiv character, but the Fulani have plundered their land and it is a systematic fight. If you desecrate the cradle of a people’s tradition, you do damage to the collective interest and this individual considers his people as fair game to be sold to the devil and cheaply too. And for taking this decision, Mike Msueaan is no longer a Moon person but a sworn enemy who is worse than the lowest scum in the range of malicious brew.

The government of Samuel Ortom has been dogged in the fight against Fulani invasion of Tiv land and while he fights the enemy from outside, there are enemies within who think that favours can be curried and money made from the misfortune by betraying the cause. This set of characters collude with the enemy by exposing the strategy and structure of our defences and nothing is more painful than betrayal of one’s people. It is such collaboration from individuals like Mike Msuaan that has encouraged the Fulani to sustain the fight against our people.

Msuaan and his paymasters must realize that for us in Benue, our safety and survival is more important than any other matter in the state. This crisis is the worst thing that has ever happened to us in Benue State. We should provide support to our Governor rather than join the enemy to throw stones at him for doing his best in the prevailing circumstances.

The crisis in Benue State is beyond the nuisance level of shameless characters like Mike Msuaan who think that every issue has a price tag. What advice can he proffer other than being a useful idiot in the hands of vested interests? We have lost thousands of people in this crisis and all it takes is for a charlatan who has sold his soul to those who want to takeover our land.

Finally, we caution Msuaan and his cohorts to retrace their steps and stop trading Tiv land for a morsel of food. Tiv youths will not hesitate to place heavy sanctions on anyone who plays politics with the unfortunate security situation in Benue State. Those seeking crumbs under the dinner table of highly placed people in Abuja should remember that their acts of betrayal are not only suspected but also known.

The battle for the soul of Benue State is beyond the comprehension of phony characters like Mike Msuaan and his ilk who are pillaging the Tiv nation in times of the war between good over evil, justice over impunity and freedom over subjugation.

The price to pay as a snitch is that we will declare such fellows persona non grata and they will no longer be considered as part of us. Long after the matter is settled, and the Tiv will be triumphant, Msuaan and his lineage will be considered as enemies of the Tiv nation and the Moon people know how to deal with such dissidents. The Tiv Youth Organisation (TYO) considers such a scoundrel as a misfit and disclaims him because he is not worthy to be counted as a Tiv man. He can go and start tending the Fulani livestock. It is no loss to us.