The Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has accused the State party chairman of the All Progressives Congress APC Austin Agada of orchestrating the disturbance of the peace of the state by employing gunmen which led to Friday’s commotion at the State party secretariat.
In a statement by Tersoo Kula, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, said Agada, along with his alleged accomplice, Mathias Byuan, who serves as the Executive Director of Finance and Accounts at the Federal Housing Authority, made a brazen entry into the heart of the state capital with armed men.
According to him the duo led the armed men round parts of the old GRA and were headed to property number 75, J S Tarka way said to be owned by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume when the Nigerian police arrived and began to engage them before they disappeared.
He recalled that the Governor had banned all political and social gatherings in the state till further notice and the directives were later publicly communicated to the public through the Commissioner of Police, Benue State command who approved enforcement and equally asked the organizers to call off their meetings.
Kula said the government is worried that some people are still in the habit of insisting to derail the relative peace in the state and hinder development that Gov. Alia is bringing home.
“The security atmosphere in Benue State is only gradually returning to calm after it was charged recently following the unprecedented influx of armed herders who were brought in by enemies of the state to destabilize the government.”The statement added.
He therefore urged Benue people to be security conscious and immediately report activities of these fifth columnists as well as call on security agencies to arrest these merchants of crisis and bring them to book to serve as a deterrent to others.
The blame trading within the All Progressives Congress APC Benue State chapter has continued to rage with the party accusing the State Governor, Hyacinth Alia of disrupting a scheduled working visit of the Executive Director, Housing , Finance and Accounts, Federal Housing Authority, Mathias Ibyuan to the APC State Secretariat in Makurdi, the State capital.
A statement by its publicly Secretary Daniel Ihomun insist that the Governor sent thugs through his Senior Special Assistant on youth mobilisation and Empowerment, Moses Mkeenem to barricade all roads leading to the APC Secretariat to prevent Party Officials from attending to their legitimate duties and later went out personally inspiring the hoodlums to attack members of the party and disrupt party activities.
“Mathias Byuan who arrived Makurdi and was received by party faithful at Agan toll-gate proceeded to the Secretariat in company of the State Chairman, Comrade Austin Agada, and other members of the State Executive Committee in a convoy and were blocked by the governor’s thugs along the Tito gate brandishing dangerous weapons and attacking members of the party.”The statement read In part
The Benue APC viewed this as a very desperate and pedestrian outing by the governor highly unbecoming of the Chief Executive Officer of a state.
According to him the party in Benue State is highly embarrassed by this rogue like outing of the governor and urges members of the party at all levels in the state to remain calm and law abiding.
He said it was an absurdity before now to think that a governor elected on the platform of a political party could go out of lawful ways to stop the same party from performing its duties including declaring his state capital as being insecure and unsafe for peaceful assembly.
The party equally expressed concerns that instead of redeeming the image of the state to attract investments across the globe, governor Hyacinth Alia has taken it upon himself to trade the fortunes of the state on the alter of politics, demarketing Benue as a state highly insecure to do business or even associate freely.
According to him previous administrations in the State made serious efforts at demilitarizing youths in the state noting that it will be highly unpatriotic for governor Alia to return the state to the era of encouraging young people to take up arms against people of the state instead of seeking ways to empower them.
The APC in Benue State strongly condemned the outing of the governor and urged him to wear his thinking cap before he causes further damage to the image and prosperity of Benue state.
Editor: Ena Agbanoma
