Nigeria’s President Responds Late to Benue Massacre with Insensitive, Detached Tone

Nigerians are strongly condemning President Bola Tinubu for his delayed response to the mass killing in Benue State, where about 200 people were slaughtered in a coordinated attack by suspected terrorist herdsmen.

Despite the scale of the tragedy, the President remained silent for over a day. His eventual reaction only came after intense public criticism and an intervention from Pope Francis, who publicly prayed for victims of the Benue killings during his Sunday Angelus prayer.

Tinubu’s initial silence was even more jarring considering that just a day earlier, he had promptly issued condolences to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the victims of the Air India plane crash. This contrast ignited anger across social media platforms, with many accusing the President of prioritising foreign tragedies over domestic bloodshed.

Quick to send condolences to India, but not a word to Benue State that lost 200 lives to an alleged genocidal attack, one X user wrote.

Another angrily noted, “They died in an accident. In your own country, people are being deliberately killed in their thousands every week. You’re doing and saying nothing about it.”

Following hours of silence from both the President’s personal account and official presidential platforms, Tinubu eventually released a statement that many Nigerians described as generic and detached.

I have been briefed on the senseless bloodletting in Benue State. Enough is enough!….

Our people must live in peace, and it is possible when leaders across the divides work together in harmony and differences are identified and addressed with fairness, openness and justice, the President said.

He said he had directed security agencies to “arrest perpetrators on all sides” and prosecute them. He also urged political and community leaders in the state “to avoid inflammatory utterances” and called on Governor Hyacinth Alia to lead reconciliation efforts.

However, the statement did little to calm growing public anger. Many Nigerians noted that the President’s message lacked empathy, failed to acknowledge the victims’ pain, and did not outline any decisive action. Others criticised the President for victim-blaming and absolving the attackers through vague references to “all sides.”

The devastating attack occurred on Friday, 14 June, targeting Yelewata and Daudu communities in Guma Local Government Area (LGA). Armed militia reportedly stormed Yelewata from two flanks at around 11:00 p.m. and opened fire on residents, including internally displaced persons (IDPs) sheltering in market stalls.

According to local accounts, the attackers overran local youth and police personnel attempting to defend the community. Several families were killed and burned alive in their homes. Children and toddlers were reportedly slaughtered.

While the attack on Yelewata was ongoing, another group of armed militia men stormed Daudu, also in Guma LGA. Youths and security operatives mounted resistance there, leading to the death of several security personnel.

For over a week, we received reports from Nasarawa State that the terrorists planned to attack Yelewata, Ukoho, Ortese, Yogbo, and Daudu. This was a coordinated and well-organised attack, Matthew Mnyan, a community leader and former acting chairman of the Benue State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) said.

Mnyan also stated that some farmlands in the eastern part of Yelewata had already been seized by the attackers, who are now farming on them and warning locals not to return.

The massacre in Yelewata and Daudu came just 48 hours after another deadly attack in Mtswenem and Akondotyough Bawa communities in Makurdi LGA, where at least 25 people were killed.

Despite the rising death toll and mounting insecurity, the federal government’s response has remained inadequate and detached.

The fact that it took the Pope to acknowledge the killings before our President did is deeply embarrassing, one commentator wrote.

As insecurity worsens in Benue and other parts of the Middle Belt, citizens are demanding justice, accountability, and above all, decisive action to stop the bloodshed.

Read More:

Benue’s Children Suffer, Protesters Tear-Gassed, While Tinubu Calls Massacre ‘Senseless Bloodletting’

From Chief Critic to Commander of Chaos: Nigeria Burns on Tinubu’s Watch

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