"You Can’t Reconcile With Ghosts": Gbillah Slams Tinubu Over Benue Killings, Says Reconciliation Talks Suggest Knowledge of Attackers

 

A wave of criticism has trailed President Bola Tinubu’s recent response to the mass killings in Benue State, as former House of Representatives member, Mark Gbillah, delivers a scathing rebuke of what he describes as a gross misrepresentation of the crisis. Gbillah, speaking candidly during an appearance on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Monday, accused the President of being either misinformed or deliberately shielded from the painful reality faced by Benue communities under siege.

Rising in direct opposition to Tinubu’s characterization of the deadly violence as “reprisal attacks,” Gbillah stated that such framing distorts the truth and undermines the pain of victims. Over 200 lives were lost recently in a string of brutal assaults allegedly carried out by armed herders. Yet the federal government’s official response has stirred more anger than assurance.

President Tinubu, through a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, had urged Governor Hyacinth Alia to convene reconciliation meetings and promote peaceful coexistence between herders and farmers. But for Gbillah, this approach signals an alarming implication — that the federal government already knows who is behind the attacks.

He questioned, “If the President is suggesting reconciliation with attackers, does that not mean he knows who they are? Does it mean the government knows who these killers are and is simply unwilling to act?” According to him, such reasoning is not only flawed but dangerously dismissive of the scale and intensity of the suffering being experienced by people in Benue State.

Refusing to accept the narrative of reprisal, Gbillah insisted that the violence is one-sided, unprovoked, and part of a larger, targeted offensive against Benue’s rural populations. He cited the prolonged pattern of attacks that had gone on for years without effective response or protection from the Nigerian state. He lamented that, two years into President Tinubu’s administration, the security situation has worsened, while federal response has remained lackluster and evasive.

Images of helicopters hovering over peaceful protesters in Benue but failing to reach conflict zones where innocent villagers are being massacred further highlighted the hypocrisy of state action, Gbillah alleged. “We saw the full force of government when we protested — tear gas, helicopters, and armed personnel. But we’ve not seen that same energy directed at the killers,” he said.

Governor Alia, aligning himself with Tinubu’s position during an appearance on Channels Television, described the ongoing bloodshed as possible reprisals by herders entering from Nasarawa State through known routes. However, Gbillah outrightly dismissed this claim, stating it does not reflect the reality on the ground. “There is no war. There are no two parties. It is a sustained siege by armed groups against peaceful communities,” he declared.

He further revealed his disappointment at what he called “sycophantic silence” from several quarters, saying the atmosphere in Nigeria has become so drenched in political flattery that even elected representatives are afraid to speak the truth to power. Despite the risk of backlash, he stressed the need to tell the President what is really happening. “If he truly wants to know the facts, we are willing to brief him. The governor should also be truthful in relaying the depth of the crisis,” Gbillah said.

His remarks also touched on the President’s admission of issuing a directive on the matter previously — one that apparently went unimplemented. This, to Gbillah, is further proof of the lack of seriousness with which the federal government has treated the Benue killings. “When your first directive is ignored, and you have to issue another one without results, it shows the entire system has failed the people,” he noted.

Gbillah’s comments have reignited national discourse on the failure of leadership and security institutions in handling the unending cycle of violence in the Middle Belt. His emotional and detailed account of the tragedies has struck a chord with many Nigerians who feel the suffering of marginalized communities has long been ignored for political convenience.

His challenge to President Tinubu was simple but powerful: “Do not offer reconciliation where justice has not been served. Do not talk of harmony when one side is being hunted, killed, and displaced without provocation.”

Gbillah's impassioned plea adds to the growing calls for a radical shift in how the federal government addresses communal violence in Nigeria. As the death toll continues to rise, the demand for truth, accountability, and justice grows louder — even from within the President’s own political family.