Senate Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro, has criticised Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia over the worsening security crisis in the state, saying sympathy visits and cash donations to victims cannot substitute for decisive action to protect lives and communities.
Moro, who represents Benue South Senatorial District, raised the matter on the floor of the Senate under Orders 41 and 51 of the Senate Standing Orders, describing the recent wave of killings in his constituency as an issue of urgent national importance.
He said about 20 people, including children, were killed by armed attackers across several communities within 72 hours, insisting the violence should no longer be dismissed as farmer-herder clashes.
According to him, the attacks were part of a sustained campaign against vulnerable communities.
The senator recalled that gunmen attacked Utukpitu community on a Friday before killing two residents in Akpachi, Uboju District of Otukpo Local Government Area on Sunday. Another assault on Ondo community in Uboju on Tuesday, July 14, left two more people dead.
Moro noted that the latest attacks came barely three months after he sponsored a similar motion in the Senate, warning that Benue South was under siege.
“We have reached a stage where innocent people are attacked and killed in their homes without provocation,” he said.
He disclosed that traditional authorities had reportedly received intelligence seven days before the latest attack and alerted security agencies.
According to Moro, the paramount ruler of the Idoma Kingdom informed the Commissioner of Police of a planned attack on Otukonobi community, but the police chief reportedly lamented that he had been unable to reach Governor Alia despite repeated attempts.
Seven days later, the community was attacked.
Quoting an Idoma proverb, Moro said: “If you hear the sound of the owl in the night and a child dies in the morning, you do not have to search too far to know where death has come from.”
He said three communities in one local government area were now mourning about 20 victims, while several others remained hospitalised with injuries.
Although he acknowledged that Governor Alia later visited survivors at Otukpo General Hospital and pledged to settle their medical bills, Moro said residents had earlier rejected the governor’s ₦5 million donation because they wanted protection, not financial assistance.
“The people said they were not interested in his money; they were interested in their protection,” he said.
He faulted what he described as government’s reactive approach to insecurity, arguing that officials often arrived with donations after attacks instead of preventing them.
Moro also cited the recent abduction of mourners transporting the remains of a retired Deputy Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps from Lokoja to Benue for burial as further evidence of the deteriorating security situation.
He lamented that previous Senate interventions had yielded little result and recalled proposing a meeting between Senate leaders and President Bola Tinubu to brief him directly on developments in Benue.
According to him, the meeting has yet to take place despite the continued bloodshed.
“The situation has become intolerable and is no longer acceptable,” he said.
Responding to questions from journalists, Moro said whether the attacks were described as terrorism or banditry was largely a matter of semantics, noting that armed bandits had already been classified as terrorists.
He also rejected suggestions that the latest killings were reprisals for the murder of a Miyetti Allah leader in the state.
Describing that incident as isolated, he said it could not justify attacks on innocent communities.
“Many people have been killed in Benue South, but our people did not go to other places looking for Fulani people to kill. It does not happen that way,” he said.
On calls for self-defence, Moro maintained that elected leaders had a constitutional duty to demand protection for citizens from relevant authorities.
However, he warned that prolonged government failure could compel communities to defend themselves.
“We are not lazy people. We are not idle people. If, after some time, no action is taken by government to protect our people, I can assure you that we are capable of protecting our lives,” he said.
The senator reserved his strongest criticism for Governor Alia, insisting that financial donations after attacks amounted to treating the symptoms rather than addressing the root causes of insecurity.
“Governors should be the first responders. Instead, they stay in the comfort of Government House, condemn the attacks and make donations after people have died,” he said.
On allegations of official negligence, Moro declined to accuse any individual or institution but questioned why attacks continued despite intelligence warnings.
“It is not for me to say who is complicit or negligent. The fact remains that these attacks are happening and government has not contained the situation,” he added.
Moro also reiterated his reservations about state police, arguing that many states lacked the financial capacity to fund existing local security outfits.
Using Benue as an example, he said members of Operation Vanguard were reportedly owed monthly stipends of ₦15,000 and lacked the logistics needed to confront heavily armed attackers.
He warned that state police could also be abused for political purposes if adequate safeguards were not put in place.
“The question is: if states cannot adequately equip and fund existing security outfits, where will they find the resources to fund state police? We must ensure that such an institution is created to tackle insecurity and not for political purposes,” he said.