The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State has blamed Governor Hyacinth Alia for the state’s deteriorating security.
The party expressed concern about the increasing insecurity in the state, blaming Governor Alia’s ineptitude and callousness for the situation.
This was announced in a press release published in Makurdi today by Mr. Bemgba Iortyom, Publicity Secretary of the PDP.

To paraphrase Mr. Iortyom’s statement: “The party recalls that when the governor publicly confessed to having had a pact with bandits in the state during the campaigns, whom he referred to as “my brothers in the bush,” it reflected the fact that he had planted a time-bomb of insecurity due to his desperation for power.
The hope was that he would adopt a “carrot and stick” strategy to disarm and rehabilitate the bandits so that security and peace could be restored to the state.
This has not been the case, however, since Governor Alia’s actions have demonstrated a worrying incompetence and lack of understanding of security problems, the most glaring’red flag’ being his failure to institute a security administration regime more than four months after he took office.
The Governor of Benue State “to this day has no Security Adviser who should liaise with security agencies in the state as is required by basic operational protocols towards achieving a coordinated security agenda and its effective implementation.”
“Rather sadly, PDP is aware of a brewing tussle for the office of Security Adviser between an ex-NCO who it is alleged was demoted from the rank of Sergeant to Corporal in the Nigerian Army, and a retired Army Colonel, with the ex-NCO, feeling a sense of entitlement to the office on the grounds he hails from the governor’s Kunav clan, whereas the retired Colonel is of the Ihyarev clan.
Bandits, who are suspected of being responsible for a number of crimes around the state since the Alia government took power, have been emboldened by the state’s political instability.
Matthew Abo, Commissioner of Information and Culture for Governor Alia, was kidnapped from his home last Sunday by armed men suspected of being those ‘brothers of the governor in the bush.’ They are reportedly demanding N60 million as ransom for his freedom and are rumored to have played recordings of the Commissioner pleading for mercy while being tortured on speakerphone calls to his family.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) “feels for the families of the abducted Commissioner and other victims of such acts of terror, and the party regrets to note that it is a shocking highlight of the governor’s insensitivity that he chose to embark on a jamboree the day after the Commissioner’s abduction, celebrating his victory at the election Tribunal, while to this day he has failed to give any assurances to the public over the unfortunate incident.”
Governor Alia is ultimately responsible for every drop of innocent blood shed by Fulani herdsmen and his bandit “brothers in the bush,” thus he must take state security seriously and stop the rising trend of kidnappings and wanton killings.
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