Benue insecurity: Stop twisting Gov Alia’s comments — Onjeh cautions politicians

Daniel Onjeh, the All Progressives Congress, APC candidate for the Benue South senatorial district, has cautioned political actors against misrepresenting recent statements made by Governor Hyacinth Alia regarding the worsening security situation in the state.

Onjeh, in a statement on Tuesday, expressed concern over what he described as deliberate efforts to twist Governor Alia’s comments during his June 6 appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

He said such distortions were not only misleading but also dangerous in a state grappling with multifaceted security threats.

“The Governor’s remarks were clear and unambiguous. It is regrettable that some politicians and media houses are taking his words out of context in order to score cheap political points,” he said.

He further explained that Benue is facing two distinct forms of insecurity: indigenous banditry, largely driven by local criminal elements, and attacks by foreign militias, believed to be of Fulani origin, whose goal is to occupy ancestral lands.

According to Onjeh, politicising or ethnising the governor’s remarks detracts from the real threat and emboldens criminal actors.

He accused Governor Alia’s political detractors of weaponising insecurity in a desperate bid to destabilise the APC-led administration in the state.

“They lost at the Appeal Panel that upheld the election of APC local government chairmen. They failed to hijack the House of Assembly. They even lobbied for the withholding of local government allocations. Now, they want to engineer chaos to call for a state of emergency. It’s all part of a coordinated effort to remove Governor Alia through the back door,” Onjeh alleged.

He also urged the National Assembly to enact tougher penalties for terrorism and banditry, including life imprisonment or capital punishment, to deter both perpetrators and their sponsors.

“It is not enough to arrest criminals only for them to be released days later. This practice undermines public trust and discourages whistleblowers,” he warned.