From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
On Wednesday, June 18, 2025, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu aborted his working visit to Kaduna and headed to Makurdi, the Benue State capital. It was a sympathy visit to commiserate with the state over the massacre of over 200 residents in Yelwata community, in Guma Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State, an attack said to have been carried out by terrorists suspected to be herdsmen militia.
The visit has been adjudged a show of love and concern for the people of Benue State, eminently demonstrated by his prompt visit to the state in the wake of the attack.
Benue has become a hot bed for heinous attacks despite the presence of various military operations including Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) and Exercise Ayem Akpatuma (Exercise Cat Race) I & II. Despite these security operations, communities in Benue have continued to count losses as they mourn and bury their loved ones, live in fear, while thousands have been displaced from their ancestral homes and are living in the numerous internally displaced persoms’ (IDP) camps in the state, 15 of which were established by the state government.
Before his arrival, President Tinubu had directed the immediate deployment of security personnel to the state to secure residents and ensure that the perpetrators of the heinous crimes were apprehended and brought to book.
Upon his arrival in the state, President Tinubu, after visiting injured victims at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH), Makurdi, was taken aback at the degree of damage and injuries meted out to the people by the marauders. Moved by sympathy, the President quickly engaged the relevant stakeholders because he believed that the security challenges confronting the state could not be resolved by him alone.
During the meeting with stakeholders at the Government House, Makurdi, he appealed passionately that people should donate blood to the victims, urging the state government to make a public announcement in that regard.
He believes that the crisis has political, religious and traditional undertones, and he immediately directed that a leadership committee be set up comprising traditional, religious and political leaders, as well as past and present governors of the state.
In a bid to ensure good governance, peace and justice, he advised the governor, Rev Fr. Hyacinth Alia to demonstrate political will by embracing and bringing everyone together to address the challenges confronting the state.
The president was emphatic about peace. He encouraged the governor whom he described as father to all including himself, to do the needful, saying “the people of Benue deserve peace. Your ability and maturity will define solution to the present situation. Ensure to work with everybody because not everyone will like you in politics. It is you who will work with us to show us the way because politics is local.”
He further emphasised that only peace was the prerequisites for the needed development and progress of the Benue society hinting that when next he visits the state, it would be for good. “I want to come to Benue and commission projects for progress and development with the assurance of hope and prosperity, not to sympathise with the state.
“You are elected governor under the progressive banner to ensure peace stability and progress so that we can commission projects. You are not elected to bury people. We shall not continue to bury people from ages to ages, or make children orphans and women widows. Traditional rulers should join hands,” he said.
The elated state governor, during the stakeholders meeting said the president’s decision to cancel other engagements of state concern to personally visit is an unquestionable demonstration of true leadership.
Before the president Governor Alia solicited that efforts be improved and more drastic security measures be taken to confront the challenges better, lamenting that the attacks on the peace-loving and good people of Benue State have persisted for well over a decade.
He told the president that the attacks were a calculated attempt targeted at annihilating the people of the state and taking over their ancestral homes.
“Your Excellency, this visit of yours marks the very first time, we will have the president of the nation visit us on the account of insecurity. We believe this will bring an end to the security challenges that have persisted against our people in Benue State. Your Excellency, even though our eyes full of tears and emotional grief due to the loss of our loved ones, our properties, farmlands and ancestral homes, our hopes are ignited by your visit. Your presence is a form of unimaginable reassurance and we are confident that, never again will our people be subjected to this degree of underserved and barbaric inhumanity,” the governor said.
At the meeting, the governor urged the Federal Government to consider establishing a special intervention fund for communities affected by these incessant attacks in Benue State to support the rehabilitation of displaced persons, rebuilding of destroyed infrastructure, and restoring the livelihoods of our farmers and families whose lives have been upended.
The governor also used the occasion to reiterate his firm support for the establishment of state police as a sustainable solution to the persistent insecurity in the state and nation at large. While acknowledging the concerns surrounding its implementation, he urged the Federal Government to address the concerns by setting clear, state-specific guidelines and regulatory frameworks to prevent any potential misuse.
The visit of the president is expected to bring political stability to the state’s troubled ruling party. Recall that for a long time, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state have been factionalised into loyalists of the governor and those of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF), Senator George Akume. The development itself is believed to have heightened the security situation in the state.
While concerned citizens and lovers of the state have waited and expected state leaders to work together for the peace and safety of the state, there have been accusations and counter accusations as regards who is responsible for the attacks on the state.
In one instance, while the governor claimed the killings were being masterminded by “Abuja politicians” who he said were sponsoring the killings to bring down his government, at another instance, Governor Alia also attributed the killings to the activities of some clergymen in the state, whom he described as “religious bandits.” He said their preachings at their “holy alters” were largely responsible for the attacks in the state.
Following the directive by the president that a meeting of state leaders be convened, the SGF, on Friday, June 20, 2025, has gone ahead to meet with the traditional leaders and other critical stakeholders with a view to proffer solutions and bring lasting and enduring peace to the state.
The meeting was attended by the two paramount rulers of Tiv and Idoma nation, the Tor Tiv, HRM Orchivirgh Professor James Ayatse and the Och’Idoma, HRM Agabaidu John Elaigwu Odogbo and other critical stakeholders.
The governor has also heeded the advice of the president to meet with Senator George Akume to find ways of resolving the security challenges confronting the state.
As commendable as the visit of the president was, our correspondent reports that some of his statements during the meeting have also stirred up controversies.
The President who noted that Nigerian government needs to do something about land grabbing went further to say that “I heard the Tor Tiv say something about land grabbing. But if we learn how to share and how to accommodate, we would have enough land to feed and raise our children for the sake of happiness and prosperity.”
This particular comment has generated very serious controversy with people expressing reservation over it. The Benue people have been left wondering who he was referring to when he said “they should accommodate and share land.”
The president’s remarks stem from the Tor Tiv’s remarks where he lamented that the state is battling with a calculated, well planned full scale genocidal invasion and land grabbing campaign by Fulani herders, terrorists and bandits.
Responding to the statements, a security consultant, AIG Austin Iwar (rtd), said President Tinubu’s visit to Benue State was significant, but deeply underwhelming.
According to Iwar, while his directive to arrest perpetrators of the Yelwata massacre is welcomed, the overall framing of the crisis as a “state issue” misses the mark entirely.
“By deflecting responsibility to Governor Alia and calling for a peace committee without a concrete federal security roadmap, the president risks reinforcing the very failures that have allowed this tragedy to persist.”
He argued that President Tinubu’s visit to Benue should have been a turning point. For families who have lost loved ones, for farmers chased from their land, and for children growing up in overcrowded IDP camps, it was a moment to finally hear that their pain mattered. But instead of hope, they were handed hesitation. Instead of decisive federal action, they were told to look to their state governor.
He insisted that “The crisis in Benue is not a state matter alone. It is a national emergency.”
“Calling for arrests without a nationwide strategy to disarm and dismantle the armed groups behind these atrocities will only recycle the problem. Peace committees are important, but you cannot dialogue with ghosts. Who are we negotiating with if no group has claimed responsibility or declared their grievances? Without identifying and engaging clear actors, peace talks risk being a performance,” Iwar added, even as he urged the president to demand weekly reports on arrests, prosecutions, and progress in stabilising Benue.
The Benue State Publicity Secretary of Labour Party (LP), Comrade Tersoo Orbunde commended the president for visiting. Orbunde said “Now that he has come and seen, we are waiting to see the action he would take for the insecurity to end.”
Also speaking, the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), said it would not be proper to pre-empt the president’s action, saying the state will watch and see what that committee would do.
Speaking through its Publicity Secretary, Tim Nyor, the party said the solution to the crisis remains ranching. “There is a part of his speech where he mentioned giving out land, we do not have land to dash out to anybody in terms of grazing reserves but for ranching as a business.
“The law is ‘Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law’so if the herders want land to ranch their cows, then the law makes provision for them. For my party, we stand by the law.”
A public servant in the state, Hon. Attah Ede, described President Tinubu’s visit to Benue as quite commendable, saying “his prompt response calls for celebration. However, nobody knows what would happen next. I expect Mr. President to initiate dialogue between farmers and herders, involving traditional institutions, Civil Societies and other critical stakeholders, not just giving directives. Again, the president should support the governor to invest in long-term conflict resolution mechanisms, such as the implementation of the anti-open grazing law, ranching programmes, and community peace building frameworks.
“Accountability must also be prioritised; perpetrators of violence must be prosecuted to break the cycle of impunity. It is my believe that sustainable peace and security would now return to Benue. Governor Alia and Senator Akume should heed to the advice of Mr. President, reunite as father and son to develop the state. So many things are happening in the state that requires collective collaboration between the SGF and the Governor and President Tinubu has set the ball rolling by suggesting constitution of state leadership community.”