The Benue State Government has challenged the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, to identify the government aide allegedly responsible for mobilising youths to block his convoy from accessing Yelewata community in Guma Local Government Area of the state.
Politics Nigeria reports that the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Hyacinth Alia, Tersoo Kula, threw the challenge while appearing on The Morning Show, an Arise TV programme, on Wednesday.
Kula said the state government was prepared to support an investigation into the incident, insisting that anyone found to have orchestrated the obstruction should face the law.
He said Obi and the NDC should not only name the alleged aide but also provide evidence linking the individual to the incident.
According to him, the police had the responsibility to investigate the allegation and establish those behind the reported blockade.
“The incident was completely unknown to the government until we started seeing pictures of what was happening,” Kula said.
He added, “I challenged them that they should name that aide. They mentioned a particular aide, and we said they should go ahead and mention him. If there’s any evidence, the police commissioner should ensure that the person who directed this is arrested and brought to book.”
The governor’s spokesman maintained that Governor Alia had no reason to deploy youths to frustrate Obi’s movement, arguing that the governor does not support political thuggery.
Kula said if Obi’s visit posed any security or political concern to the governor, the appropriate response would have been to rely on recognised security agencies rather than mobilise youths.
“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 stated.
The controversy followed Obi’s attempt to visit Yelewata, a community in Guma Local Government Area that suffered a deadly attack in June 2025 in which more than 200 people were reportedly killed.
Obi had accused the state government of frustrating his movement to the community after youths reportedly blocked his convoy.
However, the Benue State Government has repeatedly denied having prior knowledge of Obi’s visit.
Kula had earlier said neither Governor Alia nor the state’s security agencies were informed ahead of Obi’s movement to Yelewata.
He argued that as a presidential candidate, Obi should have had adequate security arrangements for his movement, particularly to a community considered sensitive because of its history of violence.
The governor’s spokesman said the police, Department of State Services (DSS) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), among other security agencies, ought to have been notified ahead of the visit.
“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.
Kula also questioned how youths could have successfully stopped a presidential candidate if adequate security arrangements had been made for the visit.
He further said Governor Alia had not received any security briefing concerning Obi’s movement to Yelewata.
On the broader security situation in Benue, Kula acknowledged that insecurity remained a serious concern despite describing the situation in the state as having improved to what he called “relative peace.”
He stressed that the fact that other states were experiencing similar security challenges was not an excuse for the Benue government to become complacent.
“What is happening in Benue State in respect to insecurity is happening to other states. It’s not peculiar to Benue,” he said.
“But there is no excuse saying that because it’s happening to other states, we should be comfortable. We are not comfortable.”
Kula said Governor Alia remained concerned about insecurity and was committed to reducing attacks across the state to the barest minimum.
