The Benue State Government has denied knowledge of a reported visit by the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, to Yelewata in Guma Local Government Area of the state, where more than 200 people were reportedly killed in a recent attack.
The denial followed reports that Obi’s convoy was allegedly blocked by youths and security personnel while attempting to access the affected community on Tuesday.
Obi, who visited Benue to commiserate with communities affected by the recent killings, said his convoy was stopped along Boko Road, near the Air Force Base, shortly after arriving in the state.
Speaking at the scene, the former Anambra State governor alleged that youths believed to have been sponsored by the state governor prevented him from proceeding to the area.
“I am here in a place where people have been killed. I am here to commiserate with them, but now I have been told that youths sponsored by the governor have blocked the road and made sure I do not go in,” Obi said.
He expressed dissatisfaction with the development, saying he had remained at the location for some time without being allowed to proceed.
“I have been standing here since. We cannot have a country like this. It does not make sense to me. The rascality is totally unacceptable,” he said.
Obi also expressed concern over the continued killings in Benue, stressing that people seeking to visit affected communities and sympathise with victims should be allowed to do so.
However, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Hyacinth Alia, Kula Tersoo, said the governor and the state government were not aware of Obi’s reported visit.
Tersoo, who spoke in a telephone interview on Tuesday, said the government would ordinarily expect security agencies to be notified ahead of a visit by a presidential candidate to ensure adequate security arrangements.
“Peter Obi is a presidential candidate of a political party and a former two-term governor. He is not a small man in this country. He is supposed to be prepared for and given adequate security.
“If you are visiting a state, the security apparatus of the state is supposed to know. The Commissioner of Police, Director of DSS, Civil Defence, and others are supposed to be aware so that they can provide adequate security for you,” he said.
The governor’s spokesman questioned how Obi’s movement could have been disrupted by youths if proper security arrangements had been made for the visit.
He also rejected allegations that Governor Alia could have mobilised youths to stop Obi, saying the governor did not encourage thuggery.
“Governor Alia does not promote thuggery in Benue State. If Obi is a threat to him, or maybe he felt that Obi’s coming would cause a problem for him, the right thing to do is to get legitimate security operatives to do the needful and not to gather youths or send them to go and block him,” Tersoo said.
According to him, no security agency had briefed Governor Alia about Obi’s reported visit.
“But the governor is not aware. So you will even doubt if he came to this state at all,” he added.
Tersoo further recalled an earlier allegation by Obi that he had been prevented from visiting Benue and that shootings occurred when he eventually arrived.
He said the state government had previously sought security reports to establish what transpired during that incident, adding that similar questions arose over Tuesday’s reported development.
The governor’s spokesman maintained that security agencies would ordinarily be expected to coordinate and provide adequate protection for a presidential candidate visiting a state.
“If those people are aware, they are supposed to make adequate security for him such that the youths cannot even stop him. For the youths to have stopped him, it means there was no adequate security, that is, if at all he came. There is something wrong somewhere,” he said.
As of the time of filing this report, there was no further clarification from the Benue State Police Command on the reported incident.
