President Bola Tinubu has directed security chiefs to implement his earlier directive to bring lasting peace and security to Benue State, following the latest round of reprisal attacks that led to the death of many people. Intelligence chiefs, the police, and the military have arrived in the state to direct security operations and restore sanity.

Special Adviser to the President (Information & Strategy), Bayo Onanuga, in a statement, said President Tinubu renewed his order to security agencies to act decisively and arrest perpetrators of evil acts on all sides of the conflict and prosecute them. “The latest news of wanton killings in Benue State is very depressing. We must not allow this bloodletting to continue unabated. Enough is now enough,” Onanuga quoted the President as saying.

Bayo Onanuga further disclosed that President Tinubu has charged the Governor of Benue State with convening reconciliation meetings and dialogue among the warring parties to end the incessant bloodshed and bring lasting peace and harmonious coexistence between farmers, herders, and communities. “This is the time for Governor Alia to act as a statesman and immediately lead the process of dialogue and reconciliation that will bring peace to Benue,” Onanuga quoted the President as saying.

The President emphasized the need for political and community leaders in conflict areas to stop fuelling the crisis through unguarded utterances and statements that could further inflame tensions. “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,” Bayo Onanuga quoted Tinubu as saying.