Benue killings: I Expect Arrests, Tinubu Directs Security Chiefs

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the immediate arrest of perpetrators behind the gruesome massacre that claimed over 100 lives last Friday in the Yelewata community of Guma Local Government Area, Benue State.

During a condolence visit to the state on Wednesday, Tinubu held a town hall meeting with political leaders and security chiefs, where he directed the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, to take swift action.

“Christopher… We need to get our ears to the ground. Let’s get those criminals. Let’s get them out,” Tinubu instructed firmly, expressing outrage over the attack believed to have been carried out by armed herdsmen.

The President’s visit came in the wake of national and international outcry over the killings, which displaced hundreds and left dozens hospitalized. Earlier in the day, Tinubu visited survivors receiving treatment at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital in Makurdi, consoling victims and families.

Addressing Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia, Tinubu suggested that political sabotage might be compounding the crisis. “Your political enemies don’t want you to succeed… Are you just realising that?” he remarked pointedly.

The President also emphasized unity among the region’s leaders, calling for the formation of a high-level leadership committee to be convened in Abuja to develop a lasting peace framework.

“We cannot do without one another. I will want us to create a leadership committee now to meet in Abuja to fashion out a strategy for lasting peace. And I am ready to invest in that peace,” Tinubu pledged.

He was received in Makurdi by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, and Governor Alia, both of whom reiterated the urgency of federal intervention in Benue’s security crisis.

Background:
The massacre in Yelewata occurred on the night of June 13, when armed assailants stormed makeshift shelters housing internally displaced persons, killing dozens in their sleep and setting buildings ablaze. Civil society groups have described the attack as genocidal, while the Tor Tiv, Prof. James Ayatse, declared during the President’s visit, “This is genocide, not a dispute.”

Protests by Benue women earlier this week also brought attention to the worsening insecurity in rural communities, with demonstrators lamenting that they “can’t farm without getting killed.”