The Benue State Government has denied any role in an incident in which youths blocked the convoy of Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi in the state on 8 September. Officials said they were unaware that Obi was travelling through Benue and insisted the government does not use thugs.
Obi was travelling to Yelewata to visit families of those killed in a June 2025 attack when his convoy was halted by a group of young people at Gyado Villa on Gboko Road. He later returned to Abuja.
Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Kula Tersoo, told Punch that the state authorities had no prior knowledge of the visit. “We are not aware of his coming to the state, and if it were to be security agents that stopped him, it would have been easy for us to find out what happened,” he said.
Tersoo noted that as a presidential candidate and former governor, Obi is entitled to federal security protection. He questioned the absence of those officers and said host-state security services should normally be informed of such movements so they can provide additional cover.
He expressed surprise that youths had intercepted the convoy and stated that no young people act on behalf of the government. “Youths can not do anything on behalf of government. Our government doesn’t patronize thugs and in any case Obi is not a threat to the governor, we are not aware that Obi is coming to Benue. Am hearing it from you,” Tersoo said.
The stoppage occurred as Obi sought to meet relatives of victims of the earlier killings in Yelewata. The state government maintains it had received no notification of the planned visit and therefore could not have coordinated any response.
No further official statement on possible investigations or security reviews has been released.
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