The National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Yunusa Tanko, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s recent visit to Benue State following the tragic killing of over 200 people in Yelwata by suspected armed herdsmen.
Speaking during an interview on Eagle 102.5 FM in Ilese Ijebu, monitored by DAILY POST, Tanko described Tinubu’s response as “belated” and accused the government of showing indifference to the country’s worsening insecurity.
“For us in the Obidient Movement, this is a belated visit. These attacks have happened repeatedly — in Sokoto, Zamfara, Borno, and Benue — yet no timely action is ever taken. Lives are lost before the government reacts,” Tanko lamented.
Tanko also dismissed the distribution of noodles and food palliatives to victims as a meaningful response to the massacre, stating: “Noodles are not the solution to insecurity. When Nigerians are slaughtered, the government shows up late with food? Do our lives not matter?”
He further pointed out that Nigeria’s security woes are deeply rooted and span past administrations, blaming a lack of decisive action for the persistence of violence across regions.
“This problem didn’t start with Tinubu or Buhari — it goes back to Jonathan’s time and the Boko Haram insurgency. Successive governments failed to uproot the cause of insecurity from the grassroots,” he said.
Tanko called on President Tinubu to declare a national state of emergency on security, stressing that only a bold, strategic approach could break the cycle of violence.
The Yelwata massacre, which occurred last Friday, claimed more than 200 lives in a village located along the Benue–Nasarawa–Abuja highway and has sparked renewed calls for urgent government intervention.
