TRAGIC YELEWATA MASSACRE: BENUE DESERVES PROTECTION, NOT BETRAYAL.
Press Statement by ESV. Godwin Ityoachimin FNIVS, RSV, Former APC Governorship Aspirant, 2023.
June 15, 2025
It is with a profound sense of grief that I, ESV. Godwin Ityoachimin FNIVS, RSV, former governorship aspirant under the banner of the All Progressives Congress (APC), address the tragic and inhumane massacre of innocent residents of Yelewata, in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.
The brutal killing of our people—defenceless men, women, and children—by suspected herdsmen militia is a devastating blow to the collective conscience of our state and nation. This tragedy is not an isolated incident but part of a troubling pattern of violent attacks that continue to claim lives and destroy livelihoods across Benue communities.
What is most disheartening and unacceptable is the glaring inability—and in many respects, unwillingness—of the Benue State Government to protect its citizens. The silence, inaction, blame game and now evident insensitivity from those in power amounts to complicity. When a government fails to rise to its foremost duty of safeguarding lives and property, it loses its moral and constitutional legitimacy.
To further worsen an already dire situation, peaceful youths who took to the streets in protest—expressing their pains and demand for justice—were met with state-sponsored intimidation. Armed security operatives were deployed not to defend the people against attackers, but to suppress their voices. This act is a shameful affront to democratic values and human dignity. A government that turns its guns on its own people while leaving communities unguarded against external attackers has completely lost the plot.
Our People Deserve Protection, Not Silence. Leadership, Not intimidation , Not Excuses.
In light of this continued failure of leadership, I propose the following urgent measures to forestall a recurrence of these barbaric attacks:
Strategic Recommendations for Long-term Security in Benue State:
1. I call on the state government to as a matter of urgency Establish a Permanent Community Security Force: Equip and legally empower local vigilante groups and community defense teams under proper oversight to complement formal security structures.
2. Government should institutionalize State Policing:
Renew constitutional advocacy for the creation of a Benue State Police to enable timely, localized, and effective responses to security threats.
3. Government should engage Technology-Driven Surveillance by deploying drones in vulnerable communities, and establish a rapid-response system in rural communities, particularly border areas.
4. Government should establish Security Accountability Framework by creating a task force to regularly monitor, audit, and report the effectiveness of security deployments and response times in high-risk LGAs.
5. Government should take proactive steps like Community-Based Peace building Initiatives to facilitate continuous inter-community dialogue, truth-telling forums, and mediation efforts involving traditional rulers, youth groups, and civil society.
6. Government should enhance Victim Support and Reconstruction Programs that would provide immediate relief, resettlement, and psychological support to survivors, while developing long-term plans for rebuilding affected communities.
Let me make bold to say that our people cannot be silenced, and their blood will not be forgotten. I stand in solidarity with every family mourning today, and with every citizen whose voice has been stifled by oppression and fear.
The time has come for the Benue State Government to live up to it’s promises to the citizens. History will not be kind to leaders who watched their citizens die in silence and turned weapons on those who dared to speak.
We must act now—decisively and collectively—to ensure this nightmare does not become our norm.
May the souls of the victims rest in peace. May justice be done. And may true leadership rise from this tragedy.
Signed:
ESV. Godwin Ityoachimin FNIVS, RSV
Former Governorship Aspirant, APC – Benue State.