Youths Barricade Benue Governor’s Convoy During Visit to Attack Victims in Ukum LGA
By Zagazola Makama
Tension flared on Saturday in Afia Community, Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State, as a crowd of protesting youths, women, and children barricaded the convoy of Governor Hyacinth Alia during a visit to victims of armed herdsmen attacks.
Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that the incident occurred around 3:30 p.m. while the governor, accompanied by Benue State Commissioner of Police, CP Steve Hassan Yabanet, and other top security chiefs, was on a security assessment tour and distributing relief materials to affected residents in the area.
Police sources said the protesters, suspected to have been sponsored by a local politician, blocked the highway near the proposed venue for a town hall meeting using themselves as human shields, chanting “we no gree” in defiance of the governor’s entry into the community.
The situation was eventually brought under control after security operatives deployed minimal force to disperse the crowd and clear the road.
No injuries or fatalities were reported, although the windscreen of the official vehicle of the Benue State Commissioner of Police was damaged during the incident.
The convoy had earlier successfully visited victims of similar attacks in Logo Local Government Area before proceeding to Ukum.
Police say investigation is ongoing to identify the instigators of the protest, even as calm has since been restored to the area.
