JUST IN: TINUBU TO VISIT BENUE ON WEDNESDAY AMID ONGOING KILLINGS
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By: Sefiu Ajape
President Bola Tinubu has announced plans to clear his schedule to visit Benue State on Wednesday for a condolence visit to the people.
“I will adjust my programme and go see Benue people on Wednesday,” Tinubu said on Monday when he commissioned the Greater Abuja Water Supply Network in the nation’s capital.
The President also expressed his condolences to the people of Benue State and to the families who lost loved ones in the recent attacks.
He called on the people to embrace unity, urging them to manage their differences, anger, and frustrations in the interest of peace and coexistence.
His visit follows criticism from opposition leaders Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, who faulted the president for failing to visit the crisis-hit North Central state despite the wave of deadly attacks that claimed dozens of lives.
Benue has faced sustained violence from suspected herdsmen in recent years. The ongoing bloodshed has been linked to longstanding communal tensions and land disputes between indigenous farming communities and nomadic herders.
In recent weeks, the attacks have escalated significantly.
More than 160 people have reportedly been killed in a series of coordinated assaults across various communities in the agriculturally rich state.
Widespread Outrage
Pope Leo XIV has since condemned the recent “terrible massacre” in Benue, describing it as “extreme cruelty.” The killings have also attracted widespread protests and national outrage as many Nigerians are utterly displeased with the way the Federal Government has been handling the situation.
Opposition arrowheads Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi have also faulted the government’s handling of the security crisis, calling on the Tinubu administration to live up to its constitutional mandate to secure the lives and property of citizens.
On Sunday, the President directed security chiefs to implement his earlier directive to bring lasting peace and security to Benue State.
On Monday, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, arrived in the state in the company of other senior management team and ordered for the immediate deployment of additional tactical teams.
The police chief would meet with Governor Hyacinth Alia and other state actors before departing for Abuja.
On his part, Governor Alia sympathized with the people of the state whose loved ones had been killed, who had been displaced and who lost their farmlands. He pledged to work with the Federal Government to end the orgy of violence.
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