Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, on Monday cried out against threats from the government, saying federal government should be held responsible if he dies.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, the governor, who said that since he left All Progressives Congress (APC), he has been paying salaries, added that he’s no longer under the grip of godfathers.

The governor explained how the federal government has been using Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to persecute him and also how the cabal in the Villa hated him.

Ortom said that he would continue to defend his people, adding that he had decided to take up the challenge by the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, who said where are the Nigerian men in the face of few people that took over the government.

“I am doing it in support of our mother, the First Lady. It is a clarion call that all of us should stand up and chase that cabal away because we did not elect any cabal into that Villa.

“If I die today, the Federal Government should be held responsible because they are planning to even eliminate me. I am not going to stop. I will continue to defend my people.

“I know that I am being persecuted because the cabal don’t like me. They do all kind of things. EFCC has been chasing me and my staff for the past 10 months. And I have not done anything wrong that they have been chasing me all over the place. Persecution is so much, threats on my life,” he said.

•Excerpted from a Daily Independent report