President Bola Tinubu has defended his failure to visit Yeletawa, a community in Benue State where over 100 people were recently killed by suspected herdsmen, citing poor road conditions and flooding as reasons for aborting the trip.
Tinubu, who made a stop in Makurdi during his visit to the state, explained in a statement that he was unable to proceed to the affected area due to heavy rains and bad roads. “I aborted my journey to Yeletawa because of the rains, floods and bad roads. Particularly, seeing the ruin and carnage is sad enough,” the President said.
His decision, however, drew criticism from Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who argued that the President should have prioritized visiting the grieving community regardless of the challenges. Obi said Tinubu missed an opportunity to show solidarity and compassion, insisting that “he should have made the sacrifice to mourn with the victims, no matter the circumstances.”