Obi breached protocol, we’re not aware of his visit — Benue Govt
The Benue State Government has said it was not aware of the reported visit of the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Peter Obi, to Yelewata community in Guma Local Government Area of the state.
The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Hyacinth Alia, Kula Tersoo, disclosed this in a telephone interview, following reports that Obi’s convoy was allegedly blocked by some youths while attempting to access the community.
Yelewata was recently attacked, with more than 200 people reportedly killed in the violence.
Tersoo said neither Governor Alia nor the state government was informed of Obi’s reported visit, stressing that adequate security arrangements would ordinarily have been made if the relevant security agencies had been notified.
He said, “Peter Obi is a presidential candidate of a political party and a former two-term governor. He is not a small man in this country. He is supposed to be prepared for and given adequate security.
“If you are visiting a state, the security apparatus of the state is supposed to know. The Commissioner of Police, Director of DSS, Civil Defence and others are supposed to be aware so that they can provide adequate security for you.”
The governor’s spokesman questioned how a presidential candidate could allegedly be stopped by youths if appropriate security arrangements had been put in place for his movement.
Tersoo also rejected suggestions that Governor Alia could have sponsored youths to prevent Obi from accessing the community, saying the governor did not support such actions.
He said, “Governor Alia does not promote thuggery in Benue State. If Obi is a threat to him, or maybe he felt that Obi’s coming would cause a problem for him, the right thing to do is to get legitimate security operatives to do the needful and not to gather youths or send them to go and block him.”
According to him, the governor was not briefed by any security agency about Obi’s reported visit.
“But the governor is not aware. So you will even doubt if he came to this state at all,” he said.
Tersoo recalled an earlier claim by Obi that he was prevented from visiting Benue and that shootings occurred when he eventually arrived, saying the state government had requested security reports to establish the circumstances surrounding the allegation.
He said a similar issue arose over the latest reported incident, stressing that visits by high profile political figures ordinarily require coordination among security agencies.
“If those people are aware, they are supposed to make adequate security for him such that the youths cannot even stop him. For the youths to have stopped him, it means there was no adequate security, that is, if at all he came. There is something wrong somewhere,” Tersoo said.
The statement followed reports that Obi’s convoy was allegedly obstructed by a group of youths while attempting to enter Yelewata.