Police officers in Benue State on Sunday fired teargas at demonstrators gathered at the Wurukum Roundabout in Makurdi to protest the killing of more than 100 people in Yelewata, Guma Local Government Area, on Saturday.
According to our correspondent, the protest began around 9:30am as residents converged on the busy roundabout to express outrage over the previous day’s massacre.
Security personnel from various agencies had earlier mounted surveillance across strategic locations in Makurdi from as early as 7:00am.
A police Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) was stationed at Wurukum junction, and soldiers were deployed to the nearby bridgehead.
Officers from the police, NDLEA, NSCDC, and other agencies were also seen, armed with sophisticated weapons.
Sources indicated that the heavy security presence was intended to deter protests.
However, as the crowd swelled, police officers fired teargas around 11:00am to disperse the protesters.
Despite this, demonstrators remained defiant.
Among those present was well-known social media activist VeryDarkMan, who joined the protest and drew more attention to the event.
At the scene, Benue State Police Commissioner Ifeanyi Enemari addressed the crowd, appealing to the youths to end the protest and assuring them that security forces were actively responding to the violence.
“The Inspector General of Police has taken over the security of Benue State.”
“As I speak to you now, the IG has already sent Special Forces who are already on ground and more are coming.”
“All the Special Forces are intelligence forces, they will go no matter where the bandits are and get them,” Enemari said.
He added:
“The ones you see here on ground just arrived last night. The previous sets have been deployed to Naka, Apa, Agatu, Daudu and Yelewata.”
“We are in control of the situation, so I’m assuring all citizens of the State that we are in control. All the security agencies are with us on this. We have already made some arrests.”
According to Enemari, the Benue State Governor is fully supporting the security response:
“The Governor has already given us all the necessary support, all the logistics, every support we need, and we are going to do it, just be patient.”
“What you see happening in Yelewata yesterday is because we have taken over Apa, Gwer West and moving seriously in Agatu. They just want to do something to show that they are in control while they are not and will never be.”
He concluded with a plea to the demonstrators:
“Whatever is paining you is paining us more. We are here to protect lives and property. We have security everywhere now, even in Yelewata there are tactical teams in the bush even before the attack. Give the special forces and tactical teams room to work.”
“If you prolong your stay here, you are giving the enemies more time to plan. We have intelligence reports of their movement and we are blocking them and you will see the end result.”
