The lawmaker representing Kwande East State Constituency at the Benue State House of Assembly, Samuel Mato, has raised an alarm over ongoing killings in his constituency and refuted the state government’s claim that peace has been restored in the state.
Mato, at a press conference in Makurdi, yesterday, lamented that the comment made on national television by the state’s Director-General of Homeland Security, Air Commodore Jacob Gbamwuan (retd), was not only misleading, but an insult to the people of his constituency.
It would be recalled that gunmen, suspected to be armed bandits, attacked communities in Kwande LGA, including Turan, killing at least 19 people on Saturday and Monday respectively, while 16 bodies of the murdered farmers were dumped into the river.
However, in a televised statement on AIT on Monday, the government official, Gbamwuan refuted these reports, saying, “There has never been any such killings in Turan community or any other part of Benue State. This story in Turan is completely fake. There is no element of truth in it.”
Reacting swiftly, Mato expressed shock and disappointment over the Homeland Security chief’s statement, insisting that Kwande, particularly Turan, remains volatile and plagued by violence.
“I received a distress call from Mbadura about numerous killings and was asked to intervene. I couldn’t sleep that night. The problem now is that the DG has completely denied these events, claiming there is peace in Turan,” Mato said.
He further lamented that Turan has been in crisis for decades, with communities like Moon being uninhabitable for the past 15 years due to persistent attacks.
“I’m totally shocked and highly disappointed by the DG’s claim that there is peace in Benue and no problem in Turan, my own constituency,” he added.
Mato challenged the Homeland Security DG to visit Kwande LGA in person to witness the situation firsthand.
“You cannot sit in Makurdi and deny the reality in Kwande. There is no peace everywhere in the state,” he concluded.