Parents Decry Using Schoolchildren as Props in Drenching Rain
By Mike Odeh James and Ekani Olikita
(Makurdi) The paramount ruler of the Tiv tribe (titled the “Tor Tiv”), James Francis Ayatse used a townhall meeting in Makurdi Wednesday to challenge what he described as dangerous misrepresentations of the Benue crisis.
“It’s not herders-farmers clashes, not communal clashes or reprisal attacks,” he told the president sitting nearby. “It is a calculated, well-planned, full-scale genocidal invasion and land grabbing campaign by herder terrorists and bandits.”
He warned that the mislabeling of the crisis had fueled dangerous policy prescriptions.
“Wrong diagnosis will always lead to wrong treatment. This is war,” the monarch declared, describing the attacks as a decades-long campaign against the Tiv and Idoma people.
Angry President Reacts
Amid the ashes of genocidal killings in Yelewata village and vast numbers of displaced communities, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu landed in Makurdi on Wednesday with a blunt order to security chiefs: “Get those criminals out.”
Tinubu addressed service chiefs, the Inspector-General of Police, and stakeholders in a tense meeting at the Benue Government House, following renewed armed attacks in Yelewata that left more than two hundred victims – chiefly women and children dead – and thousands displaced.
“How come no arrest has been made?” Tinubu asked Inspector-General Kayode Egbetokun. “I expect there should be an arrest of those criminals.”
Turning to military and intelligence leaders, Tinubu demanded a coordinated and determined effort.
“Christopher (the Chief of Defence Staff), you can’t be tired of staying in the bush,” Tinubu said. “Oloyede, Air Marshal, DG NIA, DG SSS — retool your information channels and bring tangible intelligence. Let’s get those criminals.”
Amid criticism over his handling of national security, Tinubu added, “Not everyone will like you in politics. They hate me like hell too. But I’m here. I am the President.”
Gov. Alia Demands State Police and Emergency Fund
While Tinubu focused on military response, Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia called for structural reforms, including the creation of state police and a federal intervention fund.
“Benue has suffered too long from these cyclical killings,” Alia said. “We need support to rebuild, rehouse the displaced, and restore some measure of dignity to our people.”
He argued that state police, while controversial, are essential to suppress regional violence.
Alia’s position aligns with a growing chorus of governors and civil society groups who say the federal policing monopoly has failed to protect vulnerable communities.
Benue’s Bitter Welcome: When Grief Was Dressed as Loyalty
They stood in lines along the roadside, holding soggy paper flags under gray skies. The schoolchildren of Makurdi, some with grieving relatives in Yelewata, were told by teachers to cheer. A forced show of loyalty, staged for the cameras—just days after over 200 people were massacred.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s convoy swept past them on June 18, escorted by sirens. It was a public holiday declared by Governor Hyacinth Alia to honor his visit. But what should have been a moment of mourning turned into political theater. In a photo shared online, Tinubu and his aides clutch white handkerchiefs to their faces—gagging on the smell of the injuries sustained by the injured at Benue State University Teaching Hospital ward. It was the same stench villagers have endured for days: burned babies, razed homes, and bodies buried in shallow earth.
The bureaucratic pomp continued in the hospital wards. Ministers and generals filed past the wounded, murmuring platitudes. But one elderly woman sat upright, bandaged and blank. She refused to meet their eyes. Her silence, her stillness—pure contempt.
That image, more than any speech, captured the truth: that in Benue, the grieving were made to perform. And the air reeked not only of death—but of contempt for a government too proud to show sincere empathy.
Fury in Benue as Students Soaked in Rain to Welcome Tinubu
Governor Hyacinth Alia is facing backlash after schoolchildren were forced to stand under heavy rain in Makurdi to welcome President Bola Ahmed Tinubu—despite June 18 being declared a public holiday for the visit.
The official line was the President was in Benue to show sympathy over ongoing killings by suspected Fulani militia. But the sight of drenched children lining the roads sparked outrage. “They kept their own children safe but left ours in the rain to wave at power,” said Dominic Terna, a local resident.
Another witness, Rebecca Ode, told TruthNigeria: “Those children stood for hours like props. It was heartless.”
Many say the governor’s decision reflects a wider disconnect from the pain of ordinary people. What was meant to be a condolence visit has instead deepened public frustration.
Anger Growls as Tinubu Skips Yelewata Massacre Site
Benue natives, both at home and abroad, have expressed anger that President Tinubu failed to visit Yelewata, where more than 200 villagers were killed on June 14.
“My grieving relatives in Yelewata were devastated when the president broke his promise to visit them,” said Franc Utoo, speaking from his home in Edmond, Oklahoma. “Instead, he held a VIP meeting in Makurdi with elites and party loyalists.”
Utoo said the president’s comments about Benue farmers needing to “learn to share land” were deeply offensive. “The displaced people in Yelewata don’t even own land—they were just seeking safety. This wasn’t a land dispute. It was a massacre.”
“The message from this president is clear,” Utoo added. “He doesn’t care. And my people must learn to stand up for themselves.”
Mike Odeh James and Ekani Olikita are conflict reporters for TruthNigeria
