Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has warned some religious leaders, whom he described as religious bandits, to caution themselves against making unguided utterances about the security situation in the State without adequate facts to back their claims.
Governor Alia further warned that any religious leaders or anyone who does not have any helpful information that can bring peace and development to the State should better shut up rather than using the devastating security challenges bedeviling the State for personal gains by fueling the negative experiences of the traumatised population, saying the fight for insecurity needs collaborative efforts.
The governor, who was speaking during the June 12 pro-democracy march in Makurdi in support of Governor Alia and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, also warned religious and political leaders in the state to desist from using Holy altars or podiums to fuel insecurity in Benue.
According to the governor, ‘‘I observed with keen interest that there are some acclaimed leaders whose handiwork is to sow seeds of discord and feed fat from it, a development that is causing more harm than good, what can one derive in fueling the negative experiences of the state, when this is the only state we have to call our own.”
Governor Alia lamented that even though Benue was still burying its dead, he was confident that with the support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the issue of insecurity would soon be a thing of the past.
Governor Alia said, “My dear people of Benue State, as we mark this very significant day, let it be a sobering moment to all of us simultaneously. It is not yet uhuru for us.
“We are still burying our dead who were killed unprovoked. It is not just a hope, but with profound roots to ensure we take out the total menace of this carnage and killings. We will not rest on our oars to ensure that total peace returns to all the affected Local Government Areas on the frontlines of insecurity in Benue State.
Our traditional rulers and a good number of our rulers, including some religious leaders, are also marching and fighting with us for peace to return to the state. Some acclaimed leaders only fan the embers of discord so that peace does not return here. Some religious leaders—I call them religious bandits—are fueling our bad experiences here.
“And how they support that with their rhetoric and what they speak; if you don’t have the facts on Benue and Nigeria, shut up! Don’t just say something because you have the holy altars or the podium to speak. Speak what you know, speak what can be verified, and always speak what you represent and stand for.”
Furthermore, the governor noted that “Our people in the state are suffering so much; their sorrow is our sorrows but those of us who have chosen and taken an oath to defend them, protect them and to bring back peace, I’m inviting all of us, all the good people in the state as we reflect on this great day, let our conscience remind us that what unites us is bigger than what divides us”
“26 years of uninterrupted democracy in Nigeria and Benue, where we were and where we are today? The labour of our forefathers who fought for us to be where we are today should not be in vain, the onus lies on us to change our attitude and think positively and as well sacrifice for our country and State, as for what you can do for Benue not what Benue can do for you, stop adding kerosine to the already burning fire”
