By: Odeh Favour Adiya
The Benue State Government has denied having prior knowledge of Peter Obi’s visit to the state following reports that the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) encountered a blockade during his movement on Tuesday.
Obi was in Benue as part of a planned visit to Yelewata to meet families affected by the deadly June 2025 massacre.
However, his convoy was reportedly stopped by some youths at Gyado along the Gboko Road, preventing him from continuing to his intended location.
Reacting to the development, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Hyacinth Alia, Kula Tersoo, stated that the state government was completely unaware of Obi’s arrival.
“We are not aware of his coming to the state, and if it were to be security agents that stopped him, it would have been easy for us to find out what happened,” Tersoo said.
“As presidential candidate of a party and former governor he is a property of federal government and ought to have been given security, where are those security agents around him and if he is going to any state, the security of the host state should know so as to provide security for him,” he said.
Tersoo also rejected suggestions that the youths involved in the incident were acting on behalf of the state administration.
“We were surprised that youth would stop someone, youth can not do anything on behalf of government. Our government doesn’t patronize thugs and in any case Obi is not a threat to the governor, we are not aware that Obi is coming to Benue. Am hearing it from you,” he added.
Meanwhile, the NDC governorship candidate in Benue State, Prof. Terhemba Shija, gave a different account of the events during a telephone conversation with newsmen.
Shija said Obi’s visit was specifically aimed at meeting relatives of those killed during the June 2025 attack in Yelewata, emphasizing that the appropriate security authorities had been informed ahead of time.
“Is Obi not a presidential candidate, INEC has lifted ban on campaign and we duly informed police and DSS about his visit to the state they deployed police and DSS to be with us,” Shija said.
He argued that the lifting of campaign restrictions by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) meant political candidates could conduct legitimate activities without seeking permission from rivals.
“But government is aware that INEC has lifted ban on campaign, do we need to take permission from candidate?” Shija asked.
Describing the blockade as “a demonstration of fear, a clear show that Obi is the man to watch”, Shija added: “He has come just to see families of victims of Yelewata why should somebody stopped a legitimate candidate after he has officially given notice to CP and DSS?”
Meanwhile, the Benue State Police Command has confirmed that authorities were indeed aware of Obi’s movement in the state.
