A public affairs analyst, Nick Agule, has blamed the Nigerian security architecture over the failure to stop the incessant killings in Benue State.
The latest incident over the weekend in Yelewata, a border between Benue and Nasarawa states, claimed the lives of over 50 persons, sparking widespread fear and outrage across the country and beyond.
Agule, who was a guest on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, The Morning Brief, on Monday, described the situation as tragic and alarming, lamenting the failure of the security operatives to prevent the attacks.
READ ALSO: What Tinubu Told Me And Akume At Private Meeting – Benue Gov
“There are two aspects to security: one, to prevent attacks using intelligence; and two, to respond effectively when attacks happen. Sadly, neither seems to be happening,” Agule said during the show.
Some of the burnt houses in the Benue attack on April 15, 2025
He questioned how heavily armed attackers could penetrate deep into Nigeria, carry out deadly attacks, and escape without consequences.
“It’s difficult to understand how this happens without any form of timely security response,” he said. “The question then becomes why is the government not going after those killing Nigerians, but is quick to tear gas citizens who are weeping, wailing, and lamenting about the situation?”
Following the attack, President Bola Tinubu directed security chiefs to implement his earlier directive to bring lasting peace and security to Benue State.
In his reaction, Tinubu charged Governor Hyacinth Alia 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.
Pope Leo XIV has also condemned the killings in Benue State, describing the incident as a “terrible massacre” in which mostly displaced civilians were murdered with “extreme cruelty”.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, has expressed shock and horror at the magnitude of the attacks by terrorists on the people of Yelewata in the Guma Local Government Area of Benue State last weekend.
A state by his spokesperson, Terrence Kuanum, said, “The SGF, who remains in a deep state of mourning over the incident denounces it as mindless barbarism, and says it is totally unacceptable that over 200 hundred innocent persons, mostly women and children, will have their lives cut short in such cruel manner.”
Akume, who was Benue State governor from May 1999 to May 2007, consoled the families of the victims and extended his sympathies to the survivors, even as he called for an immediate end to such dastardly acts everywhere in Nigeria.
READ ALSO: IGP Arrives Benue, Deploys More Tactical Teams To End Killings
He said, “As a former state governor, I understand the complexities involved in combating insecurity, and I enjoin all political, religious and traditional leaders to unite on the task to end all forms of insecurity, not just in Benue State, but in Nigeria as a whole.”
The SGF expressed optimism that the directive by President Bola Tinubu to the Service Chiefs of the Armed Forces of the Federation to end insecurity in Benue State will yield the desired results.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, on Monday, arrived Benue State in North Central Nigeria where ferocious marauders wreaked havoc last Friday, killed scores and displaced hundreds of people.
Egbetokun arrived the state in 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.
Benue State has been under heavy attacks by suspected herdsmen for some time. The killings have lingered for years, with some linking it to inter-communal conflicts as well as the quest for land dominance between the autochthonous agrarian dwellers and nomadic cattle rearers.
However, the killings in the last few weeks have been without a break. At least over 160 residents were confirmed killed in a series of attacks by suspected herdsmen who wreaked havoc in different communities in the food-producing state.
READ ALSO: 17 Benue LGAs Were Under Siege, FG’s Efforts Reduced It To Three – Gov Alia
Youths protesting the killings in Benue
On Sunday, President Bola Tinubu directed security chiefs to implement his earlier directive to bring lasting peace and security to Benue State.
“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.
The Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has warned that Nigeria will keep facing failed leadership if citizens continue to vote along tribal lines rather than based on competence and capacity.
Obi maintained that where competence, capacity, character and compassion are non-existent, there is no magic one can do to improve the leadership of any nation.
The former Anambra State governor, who said this in a post on his official X handle on Monday, noted that Nigerians have seen what leadership without these qualities has done to the country.
“Leadership of a nation is such that it’s either succeeding or failing, none can be hidden. There are critical areas of leadership that must exist for a nation to move forward, and these are summed up in four Cs: Competence, Capacity, Character and Compassion. Where these four are non-existent, there is no magic you can do.
“It’s in this line that I have always maintained that we must move away from voting based on tribe and religion, and begin to vote for people with competence, capacity, character, and compassion, because we have all seen, painfully, what leadership without these qualities has done to our country,” Obi’s post read.
Further emphasising the importance of the aforementioned qualities, Obi stressed that Nigeria today needs a leader who understands the issues, who has the knowledge, experience, and clear ideas to solve them.
“Competence because Nigeria today needs a leader who understands the issues, who has the knowledge, experience, and clear ideas to solve them. Capacity because it is not a ceremonial position; it requires strength, stamina, and the mental energy to confront our complex challenges.
“And above all, leadership must be rooted in character and integrity because without “integrity, public trust collapses, corruption thrives, and selfishness takes over. But perhaps most importantly, we need compassion, because when a leader lacks compassion, human lives are treated as statistics, and suffering is ignored.”
READ ALSO:Nigeria Not In A Democracy Under Tinubu — Obi
He refenced the recent flood in Niger State and attack in Benue State by suspected herdsmen as occasions where these qualities were needed but was lacking from the leader of the country whom he lamented never visited those areas.
In contrast, the former governor gave an example of how both India and South African leaders were quick to visit the scene of plane crash and flooding in their respective countries, saying that was leadership with compassion.
He lamented that President Bola Tinubu failed to visit the affected areas. In contrast, he cited examples of leaders in India and South Africa who promptly visited the scenes of a plane crash and flooding, describing such gestures as demonstrations of compassionate leadership.
“Sadly, the evidence is right before our eyes. Recently, we witnessed severe flooding in Niger State that claimed nearly 200 lives, with many still missing. Yet, not even a single presidential visit, this, in a nation where the scene of the tragedy is less than an hour away by helicopter.
“Just days ago, over 200 Nigerians, innocent men, women, children, and even soldiers were massacred in Benue State. Again, no presidential visit. No physical presence at the scenes of pain. No genuine national mourning. No leadership face to comfort the grieving or give hope to the people.
“Yet, we have seen what true leadership looks like elsewhere: In India, after a plane crash killed nearly 200 people, the Prime Minister was physically at the scene within hours.
“In South Africa, when floods claimed 78 lives, the president went personally to the affected communities, stood with them, and took responsibility.
“That is leadership with compassion. That is leadership that understands the value of human life. But here in Nigeria, we have normalised leadership without empathy, without accountability, and without a human face.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State has condemned what it described as the “barbaric” suppression of peaceful protesters allegedly by the administration of Governor Hyacinth Alia, following fresh killings in the state.
In a statement released on Sunday, the State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Daniel Ihomun, expressed outrage over reports that protesters gathered in mourning and solidarity were allegedly shot at and dispersed on the orders of the state government.
Alia is a member of the APC and was elected on the platform of the party in the 2023 governorship election.
“The All Progressives Congress (APC), Benue State Chapter, under the leadership of Austin Agada, expresses deep sympathy to the resilient people of Benue State who, faced with unrelenting violence and government silence, took to the streets in peaceful protest, only to be met with state-sponsored brutality,” Ihomun said.
Some of the burnt houses in the Benue attack on April 15, 2025
He described the incident as “a new low in the governance of” the state, lamenting that the same government elected to protect the people had allegedly turned its guns on them.
“What further proof is needed that the Alia administration has not only failed in its primary duty to protect lives and property but is now complicit in the suffering and silencing of its citizens?” the statement queried.
A logo of the All Progressives Congress (APC)
‘Deliberate Inaction’
The APC further said the ongoing violence in Benue communities had been worsened by the governor’s “deliberate inaction” and “glaring disinterest.”
The party accused the Alia-led government of failing to provide logistical support to security agencies or collaborate with stakeholders to prevent attacks, despite receiving security votes,.
The party also criticised the governor’s alleged dismissive stance on the crisis, citing previous comments where he allegedly referred to the killings as “mere skirmishes” and justified the presence of armed aggressors under ECOWAS protocols.
Governor Hyacinth Alia
‘Gov To Blame For Crisis’
“This most recent assault on peaceful protesters marks a dangerous descent into authoritarianism. We hold the governor personally responsible for the worsening crisis and his administration’s silence and complicity,” the APC warned.
READ ALSO:VeryDarkMan, Angry Youths Protest, Demand End To Killings In Benue
The party demanded the immediate release of all arrested protesters and an independent investigation into the alleged shootings, as well as justice for the victims and an end to what it called a “culture of impunity”.
Meanwhile, the attack that sparked the protest occurred on Saturday, when suspected armed herders invaded the Yelwata community in Benue, leaving scores feared dead.
FILE: Atiku Abubakar addressing a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, March 2, 2023. Channels TV/Sodiq Adelakun
Former vice president and 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, condemned the killings and urged both state and federal authorities to act swiftly.
“I am deeply anguished and shocked by the devastating news of the fresh attacks in Benue State, where over 100 innocent lives are feared lost. These killings, once again targeting defenceless communities, underscore the escalating insecurity crisis facing our nation,” Atiku said in a statement on X.
He called for a transparent investigation, enhanced security deployments, and support services for affected communities, including medical aid and trauma counselling.
“This is not just a local tragedy; it is a national emergency,” Atiku stated.
Angry Youths Protest
In the wake of the killings, angry youths gathered early Sunday at the Wurukum food basket roundabout in Makurdi to demand justice.
The protesters, joined by social media activist Martin Otse, known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), called out what they described as a lack of response from President Bola Tinubu and Governor Alia.
One of the protesters, Solomon Amande, told journalists that the people were outraged by the silence of those in power.
“Women, children, the elderly – our people are being slaughtered, and there’s no word from the president or our own governor,” he said.
Some youths at the scene of the protest in Benue State after tear gas canisters were fired on Sunday, June 15, 2025.
When the Deputy Governor, Sam Ode, attempted to address the crowd, they reportedly rejected him and insisted that only Governor Alia himself could address their concerns.
The protest escalated as security agents moved in, firing tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.
Youths protesting the killings in Benue
Meanwhile, Governor Alia, in a statement delivered through his Chief Press Secretary, condemned the Yelwata attack and assured residents that the government was engaging with security agencies and stakeholders to restore calm.
He noted that federal tactical units had been deployed to Benue, and more security reinforcements were expected.
“The state’s joint operations units are also being strengthened, and the government will not relent in its utmost commitment to defending the lives and properties of all residents,” the statement added.
