PROMINENT human rights activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi, has strongly criticised President Bola Tinubu’s recent visit to Benue State, describing it as insensitive and poorly timed given the scale of human tragedy in the state.
Speaking today in an interview, Farotimi argued that the president’s trip to Makurdi, the state capital, would have been better avoided than marked by what he called a lack of empathy.
“I must say very quickly that it would have been better if the president didn’t go,” Farotimi said. “200 human beings were murdered, and the President went to Benue and was talking as if he were preparing for a campaign rally.”
He noted that the only meaningful speech during the visit came from the Tor Tiv V, James Ayatse, who described the incessant killings in the state as a “calculated, well-planned, full-scale genocidal invasion and land grabbing campaign by herder terrorists and bandits.”
Farotimi condemned what he called the “theatrical” nature of the president’s reception, adding that the red-carpet treatment was inappropriate for a state mourning mass casualties.
“They went to dance on the graves of victims, some of whom may not even be identified,” he lamented.
Benue State, one of Nigeria’s major food-producing regions, has been the scene of repeated attacks by suspected herdsmen.
In the past two months alone, over 160 people have been killed in a wave of violence, with civil rights groups estimating that the true death toll could be as high as 200.
One of the deadliest attacks occurred last Friday in Yelewata, where an overnight raid left scores dead and displaced over 3,000 residents. While the state government confirmed 59 deaths, activists say the numbers are significantly higher.
The killings have drawn both national and international condemnation. Pope Leo XIV recently decried the bloodshed, calling it a “terrible massacre” and urging swift action to end the violence.
President Tinubu’s visit came after mounting criticism from opposition figures and civil society groups.
During his visit, he tasked Nigeria’s service chiefs with ending the killings and apprehending those responsible. However, Farotimi believes the president’s remarks lacked the gravity required for such a humanitarian crisis.
“The state exists primarily to protect lives and property,” Farotimi stressed. “We’ve almost lost our capacity to be shocked.”
He called for urgent and concrete action from both federal and state authorities to restore peace and protect vulnerable communities in Benue.