PDP SHOULD KNOW THAT MEDIA STUNTS DON'T SOLVE SECURITY ISSUES' - BENUE APC

Contrary to the claims by the PDP spokesman that His Excellency, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia has a policy of keeping silent over the activities of terrorists in the state, and as such, he is aiding and abetting such crimes, let it be known that addressing the security challenges and ridding the state of criminal elements is one thing the Governor is taking seriously.

A statement issued by Governor Alia’s spokesman, Tersoo Kula added that though the Governor was still out of the state when the incident on Makurdi-Naka road happened, he had directed one of his Advisers, Chief Joseph Har, who promptly visited Benue Links Limited headquarters to commiserate with the management and to get details of the incident.

The General Manager of the Company, Mr. Alexander Fanafa, acknowledged that one person was killed during the attack, while others sustained injuries, but disclosed further that the pictures in circulation were old pictures of a past incident and not those of that particular attack.

The Adviser thereafter proceeded to the scene of the attack where he had firsthand information from soldiers deployed in that axis, and who responded to the distress call. The soldiers are personnel of 72 Special Battalion Makurdi.

Chief Har also visited the palace of HRH Daniel Abomtse, to pay homage and to also extend the Governor’s sincere sympathy and condemnation of the act. All these were done immediately the Governor got wind of the attack.

Alia must not always come out to organize press conferences and cry on cameras before the party will accept that he is making efforts. You don’t talk or cry over security issues as was the case in the past 8 years. A responsive leader acts proactively. This is what Governor Hyacinth Alia is busy doing at the moment.

Just on Tuesday, October 10th, 2023, Exercise Enduring Peace III, which is a joint security exercise aimed at addressing the various security challenges facing Benue State and by extension, the entire nation, was launched in Tyodugh, a community in Makurdi Local government area of the State.

Governor Alia, during the flag off ceremony of the exercise, called on Benue people to support the government and the security agencies with useful information that will aid in rooting out criminal elements disturbing the peace of the state.

The Governor had expressed confidence that with the flag off of the exercise and the other joint efforts of other security agencies, the criminals operating in the state will be flushed out.

There was no word of commendation from the Benue PDP about this great security step by the government, the same way the party kept quiet when Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Hon. Mathew Aboh, got released from his captives, given the efforts of the state government and security agencies.

It is now obvious that the Benue PDP’s new strategy is to feast on bad news and misfortune involving the people of the state. But the party needs to be reminded that the call made by the Governor for people to support the federal government and the security agencies with useful information about criminal elements disturbing the peace of the state, was not for a particular party or group. It is for all Benue sons and daughters, irrespective of their political differences. The PDP is part of this, despite its well-known nature of playing with the lives of the good people of the state in the name of politics.

It is even more bizarre that the Benue PDP is calling on the Governor to embrace the same tactics of always crying in the media, after which there was no positive outcome.

We must reemphasize that the administration of Rev. Fr. Alia will not toe the same line of media propaganda the PDP employed during its reign in the state, especially as the precious lives of the good people of Benue are involved. These people trusted the Governor with their votes, and he will not betray that trust.

Let the party not use the lives of the people of the state as its only political selling point, except if there is anything they know about these attacks that the government doesn’t know of.

The security of lives involves everybody and this is why Governor Alia is always drumming like a slogan, “If you see something, you say something.”

We were all in the state during the period PDP held sway as the ruling party in Benue. The consistent media outings of the erstwhile governor Ortom were more of political gimmicks. Was the state safer during that time than it is now? His cries in the media produced no results, until he exited office.