Peter Obi Details How Thugs Blocked Benue Humanitarian Mission

Continue reading You left off through this story. ABUJA, Nigeria – The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has spoken out on the violent obstruction of his campaign motorcade in Benue State, disclosing that his delegation was on an exclusively humanitarian and condolence mission to comfort grieving families in the massacre-ravaged community of Yelwata when hostile thugs intercepted his convoy, his media office confirmed in a statement on Tuesday, September 8, 2026. The former Anambra State governor expressed profound distress over the brazen attack, warning that the deployment of partisan violence to prevent leaders from showing solidarity with mourning citizens marks an alarming degeneration of democratic civility and national empathy. Okay News reports that the incident occurred on Tuesday morning shortly after Obi arrived in Benue State at approximately 9:00 a.m., following his appearance in Abuja on Monday at the commissioning of the presidential campaign headquarters of Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, the flagbearer of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM). Reflecting on his longstanding political ethos, Obi noted that his participation at Makinde's campaign launch was intended to model democratic tolerance, recalling that during his tenure as governor of Anambra State, he consistently extended executive courtesy and hospitable reception to visiting opposition figures operating within constitutional boundaries. 'Guided by that same commitment to decency over partisanship, I travelled to Benue this morning, arriving at approximately 9:00 a.m. on a purely humanitarian mission: to visit the grieving families affected by the horrific killings in Yelwata, where over 270 people were massacred,' Obi stated. The opposition frontrunner recounted that upon approaching the perimeter of the state capital, his convoy was aggressively blocked by organized political operatives who mounted barricades and chanted hostile slogans to abort the outreach. 'Regrettably, our convoy was prevented from proceeding to the community by thugs chanting, 'Peter Obi, go back.' It was deeply distressing to witness such hostility,' Obi said. 'I came to Benue not for partisan politics, but to mourn with our people, to listen to families who have lost loved ones, and to offer comfort at a moment of unimaginable sorrow. That a mission intended purely to show solidarity, compassion, and support could be obstructed in this manner is deeply alarming.' Obi cautioned political actors against exacerbating regional and communal fractures through manufactured intimidation, insisting that the primary duty of statecraft remains the preservation of human life and dignity above partisan calculation. 'At a time when our nation should be united in grief and resolute in preventing further bloodshed, we must reject any action capable of deepening our divisions,' he asserted. 'The people of Benue — and all Nigerians — deserve to sleep without fear. They deserve to travel without fear. They deserve to cultivate their land without fear. Above all, they deserve a country where the state places the protection of human life far above political expediency.' Reassuring the displaced agrarian population of his unwavering solidarity despite being prevented from accessing the conflict zone, Obi pledged to sustain national advocacy until state institutions guarantee comprehensive security across every rural community. 'Although we were unable to reach the community today, our thoughts and prayers remain steadfastly with the victims, their families, and the entire Yelwata community,' Obi concluded. 'We shall continue to work until the primary responsibility of government — the safeguarding of every Nigerian life — is restored. Until then, we cannot truly say we have built the nation our people deserve. A New Nigeria is possible.' Following the blockade, Obi departed for Jos, Plateau State, where he arrived on Tuesday afternoon to conduct an on-the-ground solidarity assessment in Mangu Local Government Area following recent deadly assaults on rural settlements in the state.