The Benue State Government on Monday denied any prior knowledge of a reported visit by presidential candidate Peter Obi to Yelewata in Guma Local Government Area, where more than 200 people were killed in a recent attack.
The statement came after reports that youths blocked Obi’s convoy as he tried to enter the community on Tuesday.
Chief Press Secretary to Governor Hyacinth Alia, Kula Tersoo, told reporters that neither the governor nor the state government had been informed of the visit and that no security arrangements had been made.
“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,” Tersoo said.
He stressed that security agencies, including the police, Department of State Services and civil defence, should have been notified in advance.
“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 added.
Tersoo rejected suggestions that Governor Alia had sponsored the youths, saying the governor does not promote political 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,” he said.
The spokesman noted that the governor had received no briefing from security agencies about the reported visit, raising questions about whether Obi had actually entered the state.
