IPOB Lawyer berates Governor Alia over ‘No self-defence’ comment, says he is unfit to govern Benue

By Olisemeka Obeche

Human Rights Lawyer and lead counsel for the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has criticized Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, for telling residents of the state not to defend themselves against terrorist attacks.

Ejiofor, who berated the governor for his failure to protect citizens in the state against herdsmen, described his pronouncement on self-defence as dereliction of duty and betrayal of agony of his people.

In a statement titled “The Tragedy of Silence in the Face of Slaughter: A Response to Gov. Alia’s Pronouncement” issued on Friday, Ejiofor argued that Governor Alia’s stance was evidence that he was ill-prepared for leadership. The statement read:

“It is both distressing and disheartening to hear Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State, himself a former Reverend Father, openly discourage the very people he swore to protect from defending themselves against the bloodthirsty incursions of killer herdsmen.

“His pronouncement, calling on unarmed and defenceless citizens not to engage in self-defence, is not just a dereliction of duty; it is a betrayal of the collective agony of Benue people who have endured one of the worst humanitarian crises in Nigeria’s modern history.

“Governor Alia’s posture once again affirms what many have long feared: that he remains tragically unsuited for the brutal realities of political leadership.

“His training as a cleric may have prepared him for the pulpit, but not for the urgent, often harsh demands of governance in a state under siege.

“The question must now be asked; how many more lives must be wasted before Governor Alia realises that prayer without action is nothing but pious abdication?

“It is particularly shameful that while other notable Nigerians, including respected past and serving security chiefs, have urged indigenous communities under repeated and unprovoked attacks to defend themselves as a legitimate survival response, the Governor of a frontline state like Benue would choose to advocate docility in the face of death. This is not leadership, it is surrender.

“If the Tinubu-led Federal Government lacks the moral and political courage to declare a State of Emergency in Benue, then the burden now rests squarely on the Benue State House of Assembly. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria empowers them to act in defence of their people.

“If Governor Alia has lost touch with the reality of his people’s suffering, if he has chosen to speak peace where there is no peace; then it is incumbent on the House to activate the relevant constitutional mechanisms and return him to the pulpit where idealism, not realism, reigns supreme.

“This is not just about politics. This is about lives- about families wiped out, farmlands razed, and entire communities living in fear within their ancestral homes. Any leader who cannot stand between his people and the sword is simply not fit to sit on the throne.

“May God deliver Benue State from the paralysing grip of a Governor who has not only lost the will to lead but the conscience to care.