Again Abba Moro Raises Alarm Over Recent Attacks in Otukpo, Calls Senate Leadership to Meet Tinubu
By Raphael Ekpang
Nigerian Senate Minority Leader Srnator Patrick Abba Moro (Benue South Senatorial District) has expressed worried ovet the worsening security crisis in Benue State, declaring that residents can no longer sleep in their homes or cultivate their farms due to relentless attacks by suspected armed herders and bandits.
Leading the debate on a motion he presented on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday, on the recent attacks in Akpachi-Ugboju, Otukpo-Nobi and Ondo Ugboju communities in Otukpo Local Government Area, Moro warned that the killings had reached an intolerable level and called on the Senate leadership to urgently seek an audience with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to present the plight of affected communities.
Moro lamented that the latest attacks, which claimed about 20 lives within a few days, were part of a disturbing pattern of coordinated assaults on peaceful farming communities in Benue South.
According to him, he had raised similar concerns before the Senate barely three months earlier, describing the situation then as a “siege” on communities in the district.
“This matter goes on and on. At a point, Nigerians must begin to wonder: where do we go from here? How did we get to this place where communities are attacked, children are killed, innocent people are murdered without any provocation?” he asked.
The lawmaker said the attacks were not the result of communal clashes but carefully coordinated assaults launched against defenceless residents.
He disclosed that intelligence warning of an impending attack on Otukpo had reportedly been received seven days before the incident occurred.
According to Moro, the paramount ruler of the Idoma Kingdom alerted the Commissioner of Police after receiving the intelligence, but the warning allegedly failed to translate into preventive action.
“The paramount ruler of the Idoma Kingdom had intelligence about a possible attack and quickly called the Commissioner of Police. He graciously answered the call but expressed helplessness because he had been trying unsuccessfully to reach the governor. Seven days later, Otukpo was attacked and people were killed,” Moro said.
Quoting an Idoma proverb to underscore his concerns, the senator remarked:
“Like our people say, if you hear the sound of the owl in the night and a child dies in the morning, you do not have to search too far to know where death has come from.”
He described the humanitarian situation in the affected communities as heartbreaking, noting that three communities in one local government area were mourning while several survivors remained hospitalised with life-threatening injuries.
Moro acknowledged that Governor Hyacinth Alia had visited victims receiving treatment in hospital and pledged to settle their medical bills after an earlier cash donation of ₦5 million was reportedly rejected by grieving residents.
However, the senator argued that what the people urgently needed was security rather than financial assistance.
“The people said they were not interested in his money; they were concerned about their protection.”
In one of the strongest moments of his intervention, Moro declared:
“If it is all about donating money and paying hospital bills, then I can as well ask the governor to put himself and his family on the highway so that Fulani attackers will attack them, take them to hospital, and I will pay their hospital bills.”
The Senate Minority Leader lamented that insecurity had crippled economic and social activities across Benue, with many residents abandoning their farms and businesses for fear of being attacked.
He also recalled the recent abduction of mourners accompanying the remains of a retired Deputy Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, whose corpse was reportedly intercepted by kidnappers in Lokoja while being conveyed to Benue for burial.
“That is how bad our situation is,” he said.
Moro further expressed disappointment that despite repeated motions and appeals on the deteriorating security situation, the Senate leadership had yet to secure a meeting with President Tinubu to brief him directly on the realities confronting communities in Benue.
According to him, such engagement had become necessary because some government officials and aides might not be providing the President with accurate information about the scale of the crisis.
“Sometimes appointees of government and aides to senior officials do not really tell the truth about the situation on the ground. It was necessary for us to meet Mr. President and express the concerns of our constituents directly.”
He noted, however, that despite previous resolutions, the meeting had yet to take place.
“Up to this moment, we have not met with Mr. President, yet the agony and trauma of people being attacked and killed continue unabated. We cannot continue like this. The situation has reached an intolerable level and is no longer acceptable,” Moro declared.
