Following the gruesome killings of dozens of persons in Yelwata, Benue state, Nigeria’s North Central on Sunday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has charged the governor of the state, Hycinth Alia to take charge of security in his state. The governor, Tinubu said, must bring all the warring parties together for the state to achieve peace.
The president also accused some community leaders in the state for making provocative statements fueling the bloody crisis.
The president spoke few days after the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede said he has relocated to the state as part of the ongoing efforts to tackle the insecurity in the agrarian state.
The magazine reported also that the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun has sent Special Forces form the police to join other sister security agencies in their efforts to arrest the situation.
No fewer than 200 persons including women and children are affected in the latest massacre by suspected Fulani gunmen, according to sources in the state, who claimed that the figures may be even conservative considering that government may not have fully assessed all the places were the attack took place.
They described government’s efforts to tackle the problem as a piecemeal and totally half-hearted considering that the killings show no sign of abating.
Instructively, the latest killing has further put the state on edge from the crisis that started since 2009, according to keen watchers of what is happening in the state, who are seriously angry that political actors are attacking each other rather than attacking the problem.
For instance, a video shared by activist and social media influencer, Verydarlkman, showing burnt bodies of many children in their rooms in Yelwata has not only got many Nigerians worried, it has also raised serious questions on why the killers were allowed to operate freely for hours without being confronted by security agencies.
On Sunday, many residents in the state capital trooped out to the streets to register their anger, calling on the government to act immediately to end the killings.
But in his reaction to the killings, Governor Alia said barely 60 were killed by the suspected gunmen based on government’s records.
But not a few in the state has accused the governor of trying to whittle down what is happening instead of tacking the disturbing killings headlong.
The lawmaker representing Kwande/Ushongo Federal Constituency of the state in the House of Representatives, Terseer Ugbor, has blamed the governor, accusing him of playing “bad politics” with the incessant killings.
The lawmaker whose community is among those that have experienced suspected gunmen attack, accused the governor of playing a one-man show in trying to resolve the crisis, adding that all the leaders in the state must be involved to end the killings.
“Since I became a member of the House of Reps, I have never been invited by the governor of Benue to the government house to have any sort of discussion, and my community experiences one of the highest levels of insecurity in the state.”
Describing the governor’s role Ugbor said, “It is just politics; it is just bad politics, really.” the lawmaker spoke in his reaction tom the killings of over 50 persons in Ukum and Logo local government last month.
On his part, Governor Alia has blamed some highly placed persons in the state, including some National Assembly members for allegedly arming the killers to kill his people.
“It is very, very unsettling because top politicians who are very functional and are in the National Assembly and are in Abuja, are the architects and arrowheads of not just instigating, but harbouring and keeping these people and feeding them in the bushes, and taking care of all their needs and buying all the other gadgets for them,” Alia said.
It’s widely believed that the governor is referencing some federal government officials, including his estranged godfather and Secretary to the Governor of the Federation, SGF, George Akume who are now opposed to his administrative style of governing the state. Akume is a former governor of the state and was instrumental to Alia’s ascension to office in 2023. The SGF has denied involvement in the ongoing killings.
Amidst the carnage President Tinubu has blamed the killings on communal clashes, urging all contending groups in the state to resolve their problems amicably.
The president also directed the governor to immediately convene a “reconciliation meetings and dialogue among the warring parties” with the aim of bringing “harmonious coexistence between farmers, herders, and communities.”
The president’s charge is contained in a state posted on presidency’s official X page @NGRPresident on Sunday, amidst criticism from not a few Nigerians that the incessant killings in the state have been treated with kid gloves, considering that the recent massacre came barely a month after suspected gunmen killed scores of persons in some local government in the state.
The statement published on the presidency’s official X page @NGRPresident read, “President Bola Tinubu has directed security chiefs to implement his earlier directive to bring lasting peace and security to Benue State. President Tinubu renewed his order in the wake of the latest round of reprisal attacks that led to the death of many people.
“On the president’s directive, intelligence chiefs, the police and the military have arrived in the state to direct security operations and restore sanity.
“President Tinubu has equally charged the governor of Benue State with convening reconciliation meetings and dialogue among the warring parties to end the incessant bloodshed and bring lasting peace and harmonious coexistence between farmers, herders, and communities.
“Describing the killings and bloodletting as inhuman and anti-progress, President Tinubu called on political leaders and community leaders in conflict areas to stop fuelling the crisis through unguarded utterances and statements that could further inflame tensions. They should also rein in those who go out to cause provocations and ignite reprisal attacks.
“‘The latest news of wanton killings in Benue State is very depressing. We must not allow this bloodletting to continue unabated. Enough is now enough. I have directed the security agencies to act decisively and arrest perpetrators of these evil acts on all sides of the conflict and prosecute them. Political and community leaders in Benue State must act responsibly and avoid inflammatory utterances that could further increase tensions and killings. This is the time for Governor Alia to act as a statesman and immediately lead the process of dialogue and reconciliation that will bring peace to Benue.
“Our people must live in peace, and it is possible when leaders across the divides work together in harmony and differences are identified and addressed with fairness, openness and justice.’”
According to Nick Agule, a public affairs analyst, the government has not shown enough seriousness to tackle the problem, noting that the security breakdown may not be unconnected with the failure of security agencies in the state to carry out the president’s order to totally neutralise those responsible for the killings.
‘Tinubu is in a better position to know who are causing the genocide” considering that he receives security reports on what is happening in the state he said, wondering why security agencies have shown apparent helplessness over the issue.
“ If there’s an active gunman attacking people, the security will come after him. Either they get the gun man to surrender or fix him an appointment with God,” Agule said.
Also, Kabiru Adamu, a security analyst said Benue state ranks sixth in the number of states where Nigerians are beign killed by suspected gunmen. According to him, over 5000 Nigerians have been killed in the last few years by terrorists,bandits and suspected Fulani gunmen without serious efforts on the part of the government to checkmate the killers’ activities.
He described what is happening in the state as communal clashes, saying the government must identify the trouble makers , deal with them, as a way of ending the killings, adding that the government have failed for not arresting a situation where over “100 persons’ are killed in a day.
