ART Slams President Tinubu Over Benue Killings Response
Oru Leonard
The Apostolic Round Table (ART), has expressed deep disappointment and dismay over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s response to the escalating massacres in Benue State. In a statement signed by ART Convener Apostle Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi, the organization rejected the President’s framing of the crisis as a communal conflict, describing it instead as genocide perpetrated by well-armed terrorists against indigenous peoples.
ART demands immediate military intervention in all affected Benue communities with clear rules of engagement to protect civilians.
– Prosecution of Perpetrators: Public identification and prosecution of known perpetrators and their sponsors.
– National Security Address: A national security address from the President with a detailed and time-bound roadmap to end the genocidal attacks across Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
– Halt to Gaslighting: A halt to further gaslighting and false equivalence in government statements concerning acts of terror.
Raising concerns, the ART criticizes President Tinubu’s directive to security agencies to “arrest perpetrators on all sides,” arguing that this approach equates invaders with victims and emboldens those who thrive on impunity and bloodshed. They also question the relevance of “dialogue and reconciliation” when killers are still holding machetes and homes have been turned into graveyards.
ART warns that if the government continues to treat mass murder with press releases instead of action, it will mobilize a nationwide prophetic and civic movement to demand accountability. The organization emphasizes that Benue needs protection, not sympathy or another committee.
