Nigerian Concord Newspaper
Benue Intelligence Watch has condemned Social Media posts by US Congressman, Mr. Riley Moore where he exaggerated the killings in Benue State without acknowledging efforts being made by Governor Hyacinth Alia to tackle security challenges in the state.
The group in a press statement signed by its Secretary, Mr. Awuhe Daniel accused the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume of being behind the script which Riley Moore is acting on the security issues in Benue state.
The group wondered why the Congressmen who were on a Fact-finding mission to Benue State only operated on the testimonies of Bishop Wilfred Anagbe without carrying the state government along in their investigation.
The group also called out the Catholic Bishop, Mr. Wilfred Anagbe for embarrassing the state government by saying that he and other Catholic Bishops would not attend any meeting with the US Congressmen in the Government House in Makurdi.
Recall that Reps Moore has in a post he made on his verifiable X handle on Wednesday overblown the security situation in Benue state with various allegations that directly indicted the administration under Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia.
But reacting to Moore’s statement, Benue Intelligence Watch said that it was a follow up to the ’embarrassing’ US outing of Bishop Anagbe where he told the US Congress many lies against the Nigerian government and the Benue State government.
The statement reads: “It’s sad that the SGF can be using the US Congress to embarrass the government of his state like he is also using Bishop Wilfred Anagbe to do. We have it on good authority how he personally sponsored the Bishop and two other people to travel to the US to mislead the US Congress last month.
“On Senator George Akume’s instructions, Bishop Anagbe told many lies to bring the Tinubu-led administration and that of Governor Hyacinth Alia to disrepute. While addressing the Congressmen, Anagbe blew insecurity in the land out of proportion.
“His outing really embarrassed President Bola Tinubu and his administration . How can the president still continue to keep such person as his SGF? Now, they asked a delegation of the US Congress to visit Benue State for Fact-finding but they refused to attend a meeting organized at the Government house in Makurdi as part of their plans to embarrass the governor.
“During their meeting with the US Congress delegation, Anagbe brainwashed Rep Moore and made him to believe that the security situation of Benue State is as bad as he (Moore) painted it on his X handle on Wednesday.
“Just last week, Akume gave millions of naira to Bishop Anagbe to hold a press conference in Abuja where they planned to make the world to believe that Governor Hyacinth Alia is encouraging genocides but they had to abort the event when their plan was exposed by an online newspapers
“And above all, all this they are saying that Governor Hyacinth Alia is encouraging genocides in Benue state is just one of their political wars against the governor. The SGF wants to control the structure of the All Progressive Congress in the state even when he knows that the governor is the leader of the party in the state.
“Apart from the party structure, Senator George Akume is angry and fighting the governor because he didn’t allow him (Akume) to have any access to the state treasury.
“Their main plan is to use the US Congressmen to overblow the security situation in Benue state and also force the same people led by Rep Moore to advise President Bola Tinubu to call for a State of Emergency in the state so that they can appoint someone they can control”
Benue Intelligence Watch however wondered why the delegation of the US Congress failed to acknowledge efforts that Governor Hyacinth Alia has made to tackle security challenges in the state since he assumed duties as governor in 2023.