Benue Government Says It Did Not Know About Obi’s Visit, Governor’s Aide Says

The Benue State Government says it did not know Peter Obi was coming to the state when youths reportedly stopped his convoy on Tuesday.

Kula Tersoo, chief press secretary to Governor Hyacinth Alia, said the government was unaware of the visit. He questioned why state authorities had not been informed so they could provide security for Obi, a presidential candidate, former governor and leading opposition figure.

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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.

Tersoo said the governor was surprised that youths had prevented Obi from entering the state and insisted that no youths were acting for the government. He said the government did not patronize thugs and that Obi was not a threat to the governor.

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We were surprised that youth would stop someone, youth can not do anything on behalf of government.

Obi was reportedly traveling to Yelewata to visit families of victims of the June 2025 massacre when his convoy was stopped at Gyado Villa along Gboko Road. He was later reported to have returned to Abuja.

Terhemba Shija, the NDC’s governorship candidate in Benue, gave a different account. He said the team had formally notified the police and the Department of State Services, which deployed personnel to accompany the visit. Shija argued that the lifting of the campaign ban by the Independent National Electoral Commission meant the visit did not require permission from the state government. He called the incident a demonstration of fear and a clear sign that Obi was a politician to watch, while stressing that Obi had gone to see families affected by the Yelewata killings.

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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.