A political pressure group, Atiku Support Organisation (ASO), has issued a scathing condemnation of President Bola Tinubu’s administration over what it described as the “unending genocide” in Benue State, calling for the President’s resignation if he cannot guarantee the safety of Nigerians.
In a press statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of ASO, Dr. Victor Moses, the group described the continuous attacks on Benue people as a “catastrophic failure of governance” and accused the government of maintaining a disturbing silence while citizens were being slaughtered.
While global leaders like Pope Leo XIV have courageously condemned these atrocities from faraway Rome, our ‘Commander-in-Chief’ maintains an unfortunate silence as his citizens are slaughtered like animals and hunted like game,” the statement read.
According to ASO, over 1,200 deaths have been recorded between January and June 2025 in Benue State, yet there have been no arrests, no prosecutions, no meaningful military response, and no visit by President Tinubu to the affected communities.
“This isn’t mere incompetence; it’s willful dereliction of constitutional duty,” the group added, referencing the ongoing invasion of rural Benue communities by armed marauders who “murder fathers, rape mothers, and burn children alive.”
Quoting the late South African leader, Nelson Mandela, the group declared, “A leader who fails his people on security forfeits the moral right to lead.”
Similarly, it referenced the words of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, “Any government that cannot guarantee the safety of its people has lost the first claim to legitimacy.”
ASO listed three urgent demands to address the crisis, saying they include; immediate deployment of overwhelming military presence to secure Benue State, relocation of the Chief of Army Staff to Benue State for direct coordination of security efforts and a presidential visit to the massacre sites, as a demonstration of empathy and responsibility.
“The world is watching as Nigeria descends into anarchy under Tinubu’s watch,” the group warned. “History will remember this as Nigeria’s most calamitous era of leadership failure.”
The strongly worded statement comes amid growing public outcry over the repeated attacks on communities in Benue State, with many citizens and civil society organisations demanding urgent federal intervention.
Recall that over 100 people were killed in a fresh attack at the weekend, the third time in one week early Saturday morning.
Credit: Leadership