The Benue State Government has denied prior knowledge of Peter Obi’s reported visit to the state and said no official notification was received to enable security agencies to prepare for the movement of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate.
The denial followed reports that Obi’s convoy was allegedly blocked by youths while attempting to enter Benue State on Tuesday.
The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Hyacinth Alia, Kula Tersoo, told journalists in a telephone interview that neither the governor nor the state government had been informed of Obi’s reported visit to Yelewata, a community in Guma Local Government Area that recently witnessed a deadly attack in which more than 200 people were reportedly killed.
Tersoo said the absence of prior notification was particularly significant because Obi is a presidential candidate and a former two-term governor whose movements should ordinarily attract adequate security coordination.
“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,” he said.
The governor’s spokesman explained that relevant security formations would normally need advance information about such a visit to organise protection for a high-profile political figure.
“If you are visiting a state, the security apparatus of the state is supposed to know,” Tersoo stated.
He listed the Commissioner of Police, the Department of State Services, and the Civil Defence authorities among those expected to be informed.
His remarks raised a key question over how youths could allegedly obstruct the movement of a presidential candidate if the appropriate security arrangements had been activated.
Tersoo rejected any suggestion that Governor Alia or his administration could have mobilised youths against Obi.
“Governor Alia does not promote thuggery in Benue State,” he said.
He added that if the governor considered Obi’s visit potentially disruptive, the appropriate response would have been to deploy recognised security personnel rather than youths.
“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,” Tersoo said.
According to the governor’s aide, no security agency had briefed Alia about Obi’s reported arrival.
“But the governor is not aware. So you will even doubt if he came to this state at all,” he added.
Tersoo also referred to an earlier allegation by Obi that he had been prevented from visiting Benue and that gunshots were fired when he eventually arrived.
He said the state government had previously sought security reports to establish what happened during that episode.
The spokesman said the same need for clarification applied to Tuesday’s reported incident, particularly because presidential candidates require coordinated security arrangements when travelling across states.
“If those people are aware, they are supposed to make adequate security for him such that the youths cannot even stop him.
“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 said.
The state government’s position therefore shifts attention from the alleged confrontation itself to the question of official notification and security coordination.
While reports indicated that Obi’s convoy was obstructed by youths, the Benue authorities said they had no prior information about the visit and consequently questioned whether the reported movement had been formally communicated to the state’s security apparatus.
The government also distanced Governor Alia from the alleged mobilisation of youths; it maintained that any response to a political visit should be handled through lawful security channels rather than by groups of civilians.
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