…Dispatches SGF, IGP to Benue ahead visit
President Bola Tinubu will on Wednesday visit Benue, a state recently attacked by terrorists.
Bayo Onanuga, special adviser
to the president on information and strategy, in a statement on Monday, said the president rescheduled his earlier planned official visit to Kaduna State and will now visit Benue, instead.
“Instead, he will travel to Benue State on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, as part of renewed efforts to foster peace and address the persistent conflict affecting communities in the state.”
Onanuga said the president’s visit aims to assess firsthand the recurring crisis that has claimed numerous lives and caused significant destruction.
Read also: Benue killings: Tinubu orders military to restore order, urges Alia to reconcile warring factions
The visit is coming as Pope Leo XIV condemned the attacks on defenceless citizens in Benue weekend, where no fewer than 300 persons have lost their lives.
The statement said the president will meet with all stakeholders—including traditional rulers, political, religious, community leaders, and youth groups—to seek lasting solutions to the hostilities.
In preparation for the visit, President Tinubu has already dispatched the secretary to the government of the federation, the inspector general of police, heads of intelligence agencies, the national security adviser and the chairmen of the Senate and House of Reps defence committees to Benue State.
The president is also expected to hold a town hall meeting with all stakeholders during the visit.
Recall that President Tinubu had previously condemned the ongoing violence in Benue State and called on all leaders and residents to embrace peace, love, and mutual understanding.
In a related development, George Akume, SGF, on Monday, condemned the continued bloodshed in Benue and other parts of the North-Central region
Akume, in a statement he personally signed, described the continued bloodletting and mindless killings across Benue State as “both disheartening and utterly condemnable.”
Read also: President Tinubu to visit Benue Wednesday
He noted that, “the latest reprehensible act — one among too many — is not merely a tragedy for Benue; it is a deep wound to the soul of our nation. These dastardly acts are not restricted to Benue State alone. Plateau and Zamfara states also suffer the same fate. These killings are economic-deterministic, not religiously driven.”
“The innocent lives lost — men, women, and children — will not be forgotten. We mourn them not as strangers, but as brothers and sisters, bound together by a shared humanity and a common destiny.
“As believers, Christians, Muslims, and traditionalists, we believe in the sanctity of human lives. Any single life lost offends the sensibility of God Almighty. All of us must live as brothers and sisters in peace and harmony.”
He prayed for peaceful rest for the souls of the faithful who had departed, as well as for peace to return to the land of Benue.
