President Bola Tinubu has criticised Kayode Egbetokun, inspector-general of police, over the “failure” of officers to apprehend perpetrators of the recent deadly attacks in Benue state
Speaking at a stakeholders meeting in Makurdi on Wednesday, Tinubu said he expected the police to have made some arrests after the attack in Yelwata, a community in Guma LGA of Benue state, which led to the killing of over 100 people.
“Police (referring to the IGP), I hope your men are on alert to listen to information. How come no arrest has been made? I expect there should be an arrest of those criminals,” Tinubu said.
He also urged the service chiefs, including Christopher Musa, chief of defence staff, and the heads of the air force, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), and Department of Security Service (SSS), to intensify their efforts against terror threats in the country.
“Christopher, you have given much. I watch your comments, you can’t be tired of staying in the bush. Oloyede and the Air Marshal, we thank all of you, but we need to keep our ears to the ground, let’s get those criminals, let’s get them out. DG NIA, DG SSS, retool your information channels and let’s have tangible intelligence so that this will not occur again,” he added.
In his remarks, Hyacinth Alia, governor of Benue, asked the federal government to establish state police and an intervention fund to curb the wave of killings in the state.
He said state police is critical in the fight against insurgency in Benue.
