We in the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has received with deep concern and profound displeasure that the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and erstwhile governor of Anambra State Mr. Peter Obi was stopped on his way to enter Benue State to commiserate with victims of terrorism in the state.
We view this lawless, reckless and misdirected angst of these sponsored unruly youngsters suspected to have been procured by the agents of the Benue State administration, as vexatious, irrational, irresponsible and provocative actions just as we think there was actually a plot to physically harm the presidential candidate of the NDC and one of the most illustrious Nigerian statesmen running for the high profile office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We blame the Benue State Governor Mr. Hyacinth Alia for allowing this lawless act of violence to happen in the first place given that in a previous occasion in which Peter Obi wanted to visit the state to see victims of the unrelenting terrorists attacks, the government said the opposition couldn’t be allowed even when thd president Bola Ahmed Tinubu had visited Benue State after one of the most brutal attacks by Fulani terrorists 8n which over 200 civilians including women, children and old people were massacred in an unprovoked genocide.
We condemn the Benue State Government for permitting this lawlessness and we also blame the Federal government for not deploying sufficient armed security forces to facilitate the passage of Peter Obi into Benue State even when president Tinubu who shortly before jetting out to unknown places in Europe for a three weeks vacation, had reportedly directed that the security agencies beef up security for the presidential candidate.
We view this act of depravity as an attempt to spark off violence and by that way try to physically harm Peter obi to create a national state of anomie and anarchy. This sort of provocation must never be allowed. There is no known law allowing any government in the subnational or national level to prevent a Nigerian citizen from enjoying the constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedoms of movement, association and information. Does the Benue State Governor thinks that he is a military dictator so much so that he thinks he has the powers to dictate who enters Benue and who does not? This tendency is unconstitutional and unconscionable.
There is therefore no valid reason for blocking Peter Obi from accessing Benue State and we blame the Benue State Governor for this indiscretion. Is it not a shame that the Benue State Governor couldn’t mobilise youths and equip them with the requisite weapons to stop the incessant killings of Benue civilians by terrorists but here are the youths been used for the political assignment of blocking the road so as not to allow Peter Obi to visit victims of terrorism in Benue State? These thugs should cover their faces in shame for letting themselves to be used by politicians to create confusion on the Federal Highway into Benue State.
HURIWA recalled that a tense situation was reported in Benue State on Monday after a group of suspected thugs reportedly blocked the convoy of the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi.
The incident occurred along GBoko Road as Obi and members of his entourage were reportedly attempting to gain access into the state.
Eyewitness accounts said the group, some of whom were allegedly armed with sticks, formed a blockade along the road, preventing the convoy from proceeding.
The media reports that details surrounding the incident, including the reason for the action and whether anyone was injured, remain unclear as of the time of filing this report.
Security operatives were reportedly on the scene as efforts continued to manage the situation.
We call on the National security Adviser to the President, the Chief of Defence staff, the service chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police to behave as public office holders whose responsibility and loyalty should be to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and not to any political party. The security agencies must be up and doing and stop this sort of idiocy from repeating itself so as to avoid causing political uprising in the country especially as the nation prepares for the January election. In times like this, when the relevant laws allows for political campaigns and under the extant electoral law, the violent behaviours of the procured political thugs in Benue State is a violation of the relevant provisions of the law, we expect the police to arrest and prosecute these armed thugs said to have wielded sticks and stones.
Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko,
National Coordinator,
HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA). Tuesday, September 8th, 2026.
