The Benue State Government has distanced itself from the incident involving the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, whose convoy was reportedly stopped by some youths during his visit to the state on Tuesday.
The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Kula Tersoo, in a telephone interview on Tuesday, said the government was not aware of Obi’s visit to the state.
“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.
“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.”
Tersoo, who expressed surprise that youths could stop Obi from gaining access to the state, said that no youth was working on behalf of the government and added that Obi was not a threat to the governor.
“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 said.
Obi was reportedly heading to Yelewata to visit the families of victims of the June 2025 massacre when his convoy was stopped by some youths at Gyado Villa along Gboko Road.
As of the time of filing this report, Obi was said to have returned to Abuja.
The governorship candidate of the NDC in the state, Prof. Terhemba Shija, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, explained that Obi was heading to Yelewata to see the families of victims of the June 2025 massacre.
According to him, the team had officially informed the security agents in the state about Obi’s visit.
He said, “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.
When asked if the state government was informed of Obi’s visit, Prof. Shija dismissed the question, stating that the state government should be aware that the Independent National Electoral Commission had lifted the ban on campaigns.
“But government is aware that INEC has lifted ban on campaign, do we need to take permission from candidate?” Professor Shija asked.
The governorship candidate described the incident as “a demonstration of fear, a clear show that Obi is the man to watch”, adding, “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 state command has confirmed that Obi’s people notified it of his visit to the state.
In a terse statement issued on Tuesday, the command spokesperson, DSP Peter Aondongu, said that the reason youths stopped Obi from gaining access into the state remained unknown.
“We can confirm that the Police are aware of the incident involving Peter Obi’s movement to Yelwata. Police operatives provided security for the movement.
“The reason the convoy was blocked by some youths is still unknown. We are monitoring the situation and investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.
“Further updates will be provided accordingly,” the PPRO said.