Obi blames leadership failure for Benue killings

Obi

Peter Obi, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, has condemned the recent mass killings in Benue State, describing the gruesome killings suspected armed herdsmen as a direct consequence of leadership failure in Nigeria.

In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, Obi expressed heartbreak over the attacks, which claimed the lives of women, children, soldiers, and displaced persons.

He called for an urgent national response, warning against the growing normalisation of mass killings in the country.

“My heart is heavy as I learn of yet another horrific series of killings in Benue of women, children, soldiers, and displaced persons, all senselessly slain.

“This tragedy has become too common in our national life, and the Benue situation now calls for a national emergency,” Obi said.

According to the former Anambra State governor, the scale of the killings goes beyond isolated violence and reflects systemic governance failure.

“Over 200 lives have reportedly been extinguished in a single onslaught, homes burnt, families shattered, communities left in ruin. This is not merely violence.

“It is a failure of leadership, a stain on our collective conscience,” Obi stated.

He lamented the continued inability of governments at all levels to perform their primary duty of securing lives and property, saying each loss of life is a deep wound to the nation.

He said, ”Every life lost is a Nigerian life, each one precious, each one irreplaceable. We cannot accept the normalisation of mass killing. It is intolerable.

“The primary duty of any government, federal, state, or local is to protect lives and property.

“When it repeatedly fails, we must ask: What kind of nation are we bequeathing to our children?.”