TheCable

Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers state, says the federal government should be held responsible if his Benue counterpart, Samuel Ortom, is assassinated.

On Saturday, gunmen suspected to be herdsmen attacked Ortom’s convoy while on a visit to his farm.

Ortom said the armed men, numbering about 15, trailed his convoy to the river bank where he was on foot with his security details and opened fire on them.

In a statement, Kelvin Ebiri, Wike’s special assistant on media, said the federal government should be “prepared to bury Nigeria” if harm befalls Ortom.

Wike added that if the Benue governor is killed, the country could be plunged into another civil war.

“If you kill Ortom, then be prepared to bury Nigeria,” he was quoted as saying.

“If anything happens to Governor Ortom, the Federal Government will be held responsible and they should be prepared that there will be no more Nigeria.”

Wike added that it is disturbing that the lives of incumbent governors are threatened.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also called on the police to investigate the attack on Ortom’s convoy and arrest the assailants.