Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), arrived in Benue State yesterday and, alongside the party’s governorship candidate, Prof. Terhemba Shija, exposed the grim reality of life in Yelewata.
Reaching the community was a battle in itself. In September, Obi’s planned visit was violently halted by thugs allegedly sponsored by the APC-led state government. Yesterday, fresh attempts were reportedly made to block him through an alleged directive that he attend only his town hall and leave the state. Every discerning Benue indigene and Nigerian was left asking: what is so shameful in Yelewata that the government is desperate to conceal it?
The visit answered that question.
Speaking through Dr. Andrew, survivors of the massacre described a people abandoned to their pain. They have no shelter and are left at the mercy of the scorching sun and lashing rain. They have no clean drinking water, no health facility for the sick and wounded, and no government-built school to nurture their children’s future. The lone school in the community, they said, was built by an NGO, not by the state.
These accounts shatter the carefully polished narrative of SEMA, which insists that shelter, food and medical support have been provided. Behind that rhetoric lies a harsh truth: widows, orphans and the wounded survive on sheer endurance while those sworn to protect them look away. Yelewata’s wounds are not merely neglected; they are being left to fester.
Yet amid the despair, the visit offered a glimmer of hope. By donating a combined ₦12 million and promising to drill a borehole for clean water, Obi and Shija showed the compassion the incoming leadership promises: care for people in need, protection, and the assurance of continued welfare. The people of Yelewata now know who truly stands with them in their moment of grief.
The visit also hands Benue people urgent questions. Why has it taken so long to shelter the displaced, even after billions were received in donations? Why will the government not open its books to show how much it received and spent? And, most importantly, what concrete steps is it taking to ensure this genocide never happens again?
Yelewata is waiting for answers.
Comr. Kparevfa Mark Usha
Spokesperson
Shija/Edoh Governorship Campaign Organization
12/11/2026.
