Where Is President Tinubu as Benue Bleeds Again?
By Matthew Eloyi
Once again, Benue State is soaked in blood; and once again, the nation’s Commander-in-Chief is silent.
In the wake of the horrific massacre in Yelwata, where over 100 people were reportedly gunned down by suspected herdsmen, the absence of a single word from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not only shocking; it is shameful. As the world mourns with us (from Vatican City where Pope Leo XIV called it a “terrible massacre”), the silence from Aso Rock is louder than the gunfire that shattered the night in Yelwata.
What message does this presidential muteness send to the victims and survivors? That their lives are not worthy of empathy? That rural Nigerians, particularly in the Middle Belt, should expect no justice, no protection, and no recognition? Is the president waiting for another condolence template to be typed up weeks later, after the next round of violence?
This is not the first time Benue has witnessed such horror. April’s massacres, which claimed over 150 lives across Benue and Plateau, were barely acknowledged. Yet here we are again, counting corpses, burying dreams, and crying out for leadership that never comes.
The president’s silence isn’t just insensitive; it is dangerous. It signals a troubling detachment from a crisis that demands urgency. When communities are attacked with such frequency and impunity, silence from the nation’s highest office emboldens the perpetrators. It tells them, in effect, that there will be no consequence.
Even the deputy governor of Benue, Sam Ode, was turned away by grieving, angry youth who demanded to see their actual governor — a powerful expression of frustration with political leadership at every level. But the president of Nigeria is not a spectator. He is the ultimate authority on national security. His silence is, therefore, not neutrality. It is abdication.
Atiku Abubakar has spoken. The Pope has spoken. Local leaders have spoken. Protesters in Makurdi have raised their voices. But the president, who swore to protect every Nigerian life, remains eerily mute.
Mr. President, how many more deaths will it take to move you? Will you only speak when the killings creep into city centres or VIP neighborhoods? Must every rural Nigerian life be sacrificed before the Federal Government acts, or even acknowledges?
This is not the leadership Nigerians were promised.
We demand more than silence. We demand compassion, justice, and decisive action. And we demand it now — before another Yelwata, another Daudu, another mass grave draws global sympathy and domestic rage while our president remains silent behind the guarded walls of the Villa.
