President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday set up a committee to help restore sustainable peace to Benue State following last Friday’s massacre in Yelewata community in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, which saw around 200 people killed.
Members of the peace committee selected by the President include former Military Governor of Benue State, Gen Atom Kpera (retd.), Senator George Akume, Senator Gabriel Suswam and Samuel Ortom — all former Benue governors.
The Paramount Ruler of Tiv Nation and Chairman, Traditional Council, Benue State, HRM Prof. James Ayatse and Paramount Ruler of Idomaland, the Ochidoma, HRM Dr John Elaigwu, are also on the team.
Advising the Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, on the importance of stakeholder management for peaceful and progressive governance, Tinubu urged the governor to champion the activities of the peace committee, which also includes federal officials, and non-indigenes living in the state.
“Let us meet again in Abuja. Let’s fashion out a framework for lasting peace. I am ready to invest in that peace. I assure you, we will find peace.
We will convert this tragedy into prosperity,” the President told Alia at a town hall meeting at the Benue State Government House banquet hall in Makurdi, the capital city.
The meeting included the Secretary to the Federal Government, George Akume, traditional rulers and former governors of the state. The governors of Kwara, Imo, Kogi, Plateau, Ondo, and Nasarawa also attended the meeting.
Tinubu stated that the peace effort would yield sustainable results only if it were broad-based and collaborative, calling for synergy with neighbouring Nasarawa State, whose governor, Abdullahi Sule, was also present at the meeting.
“I want the traditional rulers — the Tor Tiv, the Och’Idoma and others to be included in this peace committee.
“The Governor of Nasarawa is here and the Governor of Benue is here, let’s create that synergy for peace, development, and prosperity.
“We’re here to govern, not to bury. We’re here to raise families, not to lose some,” he said.
The President called on the people of Benue to support Governor Alia, urging communities to embrace peace and inclusion.
“This is a very critical time. The governor needs your help. Let’s have a committee with non-indigenes incorporated.”
He assured the state of the Federal Government’s backing and his personal resolve to end the cycle of bloodshed, saying, “I give you the assurance that we will find peace, we will convert this tragedy to prosperity again and again.”
Suspected armed herders stormed Yelewata village in Guma LGA of Benue State late Friday, June 13, unleashing one of the deadliest assaults the state has seen in years.
Amnesty International and local official reports say that at least 100 residents were killed, dozens remain missing, and hundreds are nursing gunshot and burn wounds after attackers set houses ablaze through the early hours of Saturday.
The Police confirmed the raid, with some sources putting the casualty figure at around 200. Many victims were internally displaced people who had taken refuge in the village after earlier attacks.
The Benue State government said it has launched a manhunt, but residents fear more reprisals as the rainy season, peak period for disputed grazing and planting, sets in.
Pope Francis prayed for the “terrible massacre” during his Sunday Angelus.
It is the latest cycle of violence linked to farmer-herder tensions, banditry and a security vacuum that rights groups say allows perpetrators to act with “utter impunity.”
At Wednesday’s town hall meeting, Tinubu directed the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, to immediately arrest those who perpetrated the heinous killings.
“I expect there should be an arrest of those criminals. Let’s get those criminals,” Tinubu told the IGP.
