Tinubu to service chiefs: Fish out Benue criminals

• Visits injured victims at teaching hospitals

• We are facing calculated genocide invasion, Tor Tiv tells president

• Establish special intervention fund for communities affected, Alia urges FG

President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday mandated the service chiefs and the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to go after those behind the dastardly killings in Benue State, which have left hundreds of people dead and many others severely injured.

Tinubu issued the order on Wednesday during his visit to Benue State following the renewed attacks in the North-Central State.

“Police, I hope your men are on alert to listen to information. How come no arrest has been made? I expect there should be arrest of those criminals,” the president said at the Benue Government House in Makurdi during a town hall meeting.

“Christopher (the Chief of Defence Staff), you have given much. I watch your comments, you can’t be tired of staying in the bush. Oloyede and the Air Marshal, we thank all of you, but we need to keep our ears to the ground, let’s get those criminals, let’s get them out. DG NIA, DG SSS, retool your information channels and let’s have tangible intelligence so that this will not occur again.”

The president lamented the carnage and said, “I saw the carnage on camera and this was enough for me to abort my trip to Kaduna to do something about this. We arrived here seeing gloomy faces. This is not the kind of faces I would like to see. I want to come here and commission projects and give joy, but we are here to help you with peace which is vital for development.”

The president said that the situation in the state was about land grabbing; he however said that there is enough land to accommodate and feed everybody.

He called on leaders to sincerely and genuinely reflect on the country’s anthem which says, “though tongue and tribe may differ, in brotherhood we stand,” and stated that it must reflect in leaders’ character in developing the people and finding a channel to preach oneness and unity.

The president also advised the governor to constitute a reconciliatory committee comprising of former governors including Gen Atom Kpera, the Tor Tiv, Och’Idoma, and other stakeholders to find a permanent solution to the crisis.

He said: “Let us find a way to form a committee of elders which should comprise past Governors, bring them to me and I will invest in it.”

President Tinubu, who recalled what he went through as governor of Lagos State, advised the governor to develop the attitude that will turn the tragedy in the state to economic prosperity.

“When I was in the saddle in Lagos, there were some situations like this but I went in and turned the tragedy to economic prosperity,” the president said.

He also requested the governor to provide land for him to establish a cattle ranch, saying, “when we leave office we will be sharing the profit.”

The president also urged the state governor, Hyacinth Alia, to embrace everybody in the state and to see himself as father to all.

He said that the committee of elders should comprise past governors and charged him to bring the members to him in Abuja, saying, “I will invest in it.”

He said, “All politics is local. You are here to work for peace. Nobody will like you in politics. They hate me like hell but I am President. I will even protect my haters with the principles of democracy. You were elected one out of millions of Tiv, Idoma and other tribes to work hard night and day. Work around the corners of your enemies. You are to work hard and pray. As a Father, you are a father to all of us including me since you do not have a nucleus family.

“We should fight our enemies together and not fight each other. As Governor you bear the yoke, that is part of leadership. You must go round to seek these leaders. Ask them questions and seek solutions. Our tolerance level and value for human lives is greater than cows and it is when you open the doors that political enemies can come in.

“I learn lessons from critical abuse. From the mouths of my critics, prompt me to do a lot. Do that, it makes them a failure and I, a performer. Create synergy for peace and development to thrive. Fasten your belt to give development, make the people your priority, that is when you can execute good projects. You no longer borrow to pay salaries. Benue people deserve peace. Please announce in a statewide broadcast for people to donate blood to the survivors whom I visited at the teaching hospital.”

Earlier, the state governor, Hyacinth Alia, in his speech urged the Federal Government to consider establishing a special intervention fund for communities affected by these incessant attacks in the state.

He noted that such a fund would go a long way to rehabilitate the displaced persons. He also reiterated his support for the establishment of state police as a sustainable solution to the persistent insecurity in our state and perhaps elsewhere.

According to him, notwithstanding the concerns surrounding its implementation, Alia said he believed that the Federal Government can address them by setting clear, state-specific guidelines and regulatory frameworks to prevent any potential misuse.

He said, “Your Excellency, while we continue to mourn our losses and rebuild from the ashes of pain, the Federal Government should consider establishing a special intervention fund for communities affected by these incessant attacks in the state in supporting the rehabilitation of displaced persons, rebuilding of destroyed infrastructure, and restoring the livelihoods of our farmers and families whose lives have been upended.

ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE: FAAC: FG, States, LGs share N1.659trn May 2025 revenue

“Our administration will keep working to ensure that our people are not only safe but can thrive again on their own land. Let me also reiterate my firm support for the establishment of state police as a sustainable solution to the persistent insecurity in our state and perhaps elsewhere. While I acknowledge the concerns surrounding its implementation, I believe the Federal Government can address these by setting clear, state-specific guidelines and regulatory frameworks to prevent any potential misuse.”

In his own speech, the Tor Tiv and Chairman of the Benue State Traditional Council of Chiefs, His Royal Majesty Professor James Ayatse, described the rising insecurity in the state as a “well-planned, full-scale genocidal invasion”, rather than communal clashes or reprisal attacks.

The Tor Tiv called on President Tinubu to end the carnage, stating that the intentions of the attackers were to wipe out Benue indigenes.

According to the Tor Tiv, “It’s not communal clashes. It’s not reprisal attacks. What we are dealing with here in Benue is a calculated, well-planned full-scale genocidal invasion and vandalism campaign by pedo-terrorists and bandits which has been on for decades and is worsening every year. Wrong diagnosis will always lead to wrong treatment. So we are dealing with something far more sinister than we think about.”

The monarch also accused some political actors of complicity in the crisis, saying that some wished for the violence to fester in order to justify a state of emergency.

“Politicians in the states are busy politicising the crisis, passing claims instead of joining hands to address the crisis. We hear there are some politicians who even prefer that the crisis should worsen so that it will be a basis for declaration of the state of emergency,” he said.

The monarch passionately reminded the president of Benue’s historical sacrifices for Nigeria’s unity, including the significant human cost paid during the civil war.

He said, “What has Benue done to deserve this? Why are we being treated like this? We are not asking for too much. We are asking for peace — the peace to live, to farm, and to feed the nation.”

While appealing to the president to bring his political will to bear on ending the carnage in the state, the royal father commended him for the decisive decisions he had made on issues of fuel subsidy and exchange rates.

“You have shown courage where others failed. You can give us peace. You can stop our weeping. Benue is bleeding. Give us back our lives.”