News Editor
From Dooshima Terkura, Makurdi
The House of Assembly Member representing Kwande East State Constituency in Benue State, Hon Samuel Mato has faulted the state Director General, Bureau of Homeland Security, Air Commodore Jacob Gbamwuan (rtd) over his claims that there were no killings in Kwande.
Recall that gunmen suspected to be armed bandits attacked some communities in Kwande Local Government Area (LGA) including Turan and killed 19 persons.
It was reported that while 16 farmers were killed on Saturday, February 15, 2025, and their bodies thrown into River Katsina Ala, a tributary of River Benue, three other persons were killed in another attack on Monday afternoon, January 17, 2024 at Boaguwa in Kumakua council ward of same Kwande LGA.
Reacting to the reports, the DG Bureau of Homeland Security, Jacob Gbanwuan, was heard on AIT refuting the reports saying “There has never been any such killings in Turan Community or any other part of Benue State. This story in Turan is completely fake. There is no element of truth in it.”
But in a swift response, the member representing Kwande East, Samuel Mato, expressed shock and disappointment at his statement that there is no crisis in Kwande or in Turan.
He told newsmen in his Makurdi residence that he got a call from Mbadura community that so many people have been killed and that he should intervene. “I couldn’t sleep again that night. The problem now is that he has denied completely that there is nothing like that and there is peace in Turan.
“Turan has become a very volatile area and for decades there is no peace there. In Moon, for the past 15 years, the people have been like they are on exile. There is no home there.
“So I’m totally shocked and highly disappointed with the statement of the DG that there is peace in Benue and there is no problem in Turan, my own constituency.”
He recalled that on December 25, 2024 over 33 people were killed at Anwaseh and the DG was also there to when they visited the area.
He lamented that after the visit, security personnel sent to the area have not been helpful as the killings have continued unabated without their proper intervention.
“So, I want to make it clear that there is no peace in Turan, we have been suffering, my people are dying and that is the truth of what is happening there. So that was a misleading statement and an insult to the people of Kwande LGA.
“The statement completely ignored the bloodshed, mass displacement and the insecurity in that axis ravaging our communities over decades. So I’m here to dispute that statement made by the DG that there is peace in Benue.”
Mato called on the federal government to intervene on the issue while the state government steps up her efforts to bring peace and security to his Kwande LGA especially in Turan, parts of Ikurav, Moon and other Communities.
He lamented that years of attacks and displacements have left his people with no means of livelihood, no home to call theirs insisting that the federal government should rather deploy a formidable security apparatus to secure the people and give them peace.
He advised the DG Bureau of Homeland Security to visit Kwande LG to see what is happening there for himself saying “You cannot stay in Makurdi and deny there are issues in Kwande, and there is peace everywhere in the state.”
