Breaking News: IGP Arrives Benue, Orders Deployment Of More Tactical Teams in Line with Tinubu’s Renewed Security Directive
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Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has arrived Benue State in a swift response to President Bola Tinubu’s renewed directive to restore peace and order following another round of deadly reprisal attacks in the state.
Upon arrival in Makurdi, the IGP immediately ordered the deployment of additional tactical teams to vulnerable communities across the conflict-ridden areas, vowing to take decisive action against all perpetrators of violence, irrespective of affiliation.
The IGP’s visit comes just hours after a statement by Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, revealed that President Tinubu had mandated security chiefs, intelligence heads, and military commanders to fully implement previous directives aimed at ending the protracted crisis in Benue.
“The latest news of wanton killings in Benue State is very depressing. We must not allow this bloodletting to continue unabated. Enough is now enough,” President Tinubu said in the statement. “I have directed the security agencies to act decisively and arrest perpetrators of these evil acts on all sides of the conflict and prosecute them.”
Sources confirmed that senior intelligence officers and military top brass have also landed in the state to coordinate joint security operations, with the IGP expected to hold a high-level meeting with the Commissioner of Police, military commanders, and community leaders.
Meanwhile, the president also tasked Governor Hyacinth Alia with convening urgent reconciliation meetings among farmers, herders, and local communities to stem the tide of violence.
“This is the time for Governor Alia to act as a statesman and immediately lead the process of dialogue and reconciliation that will bring peace to Benue,” the president charged.
President Tinubu condemned the killings as “inhuman and anti-progress,” warning political and community leaders to refrain from making inflammatory comments that could escalate the conflict.
Security analysts say the president’s firm stance and the IGP’s on-ground presence may signal a turning point in the government’s approach to the crisis, which has left hundreds dead and displaced thousands over the past year.
The situation remains tense, but residents in affected areas say they hope this new wave of security intervention will finally restore peace.
According to credible reports, the bloodletting began as early as February and has steadily worsened, despite intermittent security interventions.
In early February, Fulani militias launched deadly assaults on communities in Otukpo, killing at least five civilians and injuring several others in villages like Okpomaju and Asa 2.
Just two weeks later, on February 17, 19 people were massacred in Kwande Local Government Area, with some victims’ bodies reportedly dumped into local rivers. By the end of that month, unverifiable but widespread claims suggested that thousands had been killed in cumulative attacks on Ayin, with over 100 communities razed in what some described as an ethnic cleansing campaign.
In March, violence returned to Katsina-Ala, where 15 villagers were slain in coordinated attacks across Utange, Dikpo, and Imande Gberihwa. Days later, in Jato-Aka, two soldiers and seven civilians were killed in another brutal ambush.
May brought even more carnage, with 20 people killed in Aondona community in Gwer West LGA, followed by a horrifying massacre of 42 people across four communities in Gwer East LGA—Tyolaha, Tse-Ubiam, Ahume, and Aondona.
The most chilling attack came just days ago. On June 14, armed groups stormed Yelewata in Guma LGA, reportedly killing over 100 people, many of whom were burned alive. Amnesty International described the attack as one of the most horrific in recent memory, with “hundreds injured or missing.”
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