Gov Ortom Escapes Death in Suspected Herdsmen Attack Ran 1.5 kilometers to stay alive He was targeted for assassination, says PDP Chuks Okocha in Abuja and George Okoh in Makurdi Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt yesterday as suspected
herdsmen ambushed him on his farm in Tyomu community, less than 20 kilometers from the Benue State capital, Makurdi. According to the Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr.
Terver Akase, the herdsmen opened sporadic gunfire on the governor but that he narrowly escaped unhurt Ortom, while briefing journalists on his experience at the Benue Peoples House after
the attack, disclosed that he had to run over 1.5 kilometers to escape the ambush. But the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), last night, condemned the attack on the governor, and
while demanding the arrest as well as the prosecution of the perpetrators, claimed the attack was deliberate and intended to assassinate him. Shedding more light on what happened and how,
the Benue governor told journalists that he was inspecting his farm, when the militia herders, who dressed in black, ambushed him and his Continued on page 9
Digital Economy will Drive Growth, Job Creation, Says Emefiele… Page 5 Sunday 21 March, 2021 Vol 26. No 9478
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SGF, NSA, IG, Minister, SSGs Endorse Joint Operations to Flush out Bandits Tobi Soniyi A joint operation to deliberately deny criminals room for manoeuvre and change of locations and hideouts has
been approved by a forum of prominent state players as part of a new initiative to curb the growing insecurity in the country. Key actors, who endorsed the move,
include Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha; National Security Adviser (NSA) Babagana Monguno; and Inspector General of
Police Mohammed Adamu. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (FMHADM&SD), Sadiya Umar Farouk; Minister of
Environment, Dr. Abubakar Mahmood; and the 36 Secretaries to the State Governments also approved the new operation. The resolution was part of
the decisions reached at the first quarter regular meetings by the Forum of Secretary to the Government of the Continued on page 8
South-south Insists Southerner Must Replace Buhari in 2023 Says zoning agreement subsists Calls Bauchi Gov's recommendation irrational, inconsistent Wants report tossed into the trash bin Chuks Okocha in Abuja As the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) struggle to hammer out a deal on the zoning of their presidential slots ahead of the next general election, the South-south has said a southerner must replace President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023. The zone said their position was in line with the zoning arrangements of the two parties. The South-south had in several position arguments maintained that it should be allowed to complete its two terms of eight years, which was cut short by the defeat of former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, in the spirit of fairness and equity. Most individuals from the zone had
warned repeatedly that no one should allow himself to be used to scuttle the zone's chance of producing the next president. Yesterday, the Pan Niger Delta Development Forum (PANDEF) further advanced the position further, saying there would be no compromise in the resolve to have a southerner as the next president in 2023. PANDEF’s position followed the report of a PDP panel, which threw open the presidential ticket of the party, generating a ripple of unease among stakeholders within and outside the party. PANDEF said it was not bothered about the part of the south that produced the next president. “Whether the southerner is from the Continued on page 5
INEC Suspends Ekiti By-election as Three Die in Violence... Page 75
TAMBUWAL VACCINATED... Tambuwal receiving COVID-19 jab at government house in Sokoto...yesterday