Nigerian Concord Newspaper
The Ndigbo Progressive Forum, NPF has accused the Governor of Benue State, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia of working towards the disintegration of Nigeria ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The Ndigbo Progressive Forum which spoke in a press statement signed by its National President, Igwe Collins as a reaction to a mob attack on the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress, Mr. Peter Obi yesterday by some hired political thugs associated to Governor Hyacinth Alia.
The group which threatened to stage a protest at the Eagle Square in Abuja if Governor Alia fails to make an open apology to Mr. Peter Obi and the entire Igbo people in the country within seven days asked if President Bola Tinubu was the one that instructed the governor to order the attack on the NDC presidential candidate.
The group stated further that apart from the fact that Obi is a free citizen of Nigeria and can move freely in any state, the NDC presidential candidate also obtained a clearance from the Benue State Police Command before embarking on the aborted visit.
Recall that Obi was in Benue State yesterday to visit the Internally Displaced Persons in Yelwata but he and members of his entourage were physically attacked by hundreds of youths believed to be working on the instruction of the Governor.
According to Ndigbo Progressive Forum in the statement, the Governor, immediately he heard of Peter Obi’s visit summoned an emergency meeting of All Progressive Congress youths with the help of his Special Assistant on Youth Affairs, and instructed them to attack the NDC candidate and his entourage.
The Forum noted that Alia’s action is enough to cause disintegration in the courty , calling on President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to immediately probe the reason for the deadly attack on a very important Ibo man on the soil of North Central state.
The Forum insisted that President Bola Tinubu must quickly condemn the attack and clear his name since the people of the South East have now been made to understand that the attack was ordered on Peter Obi by Governor Hyacinth Alia as part of his plan to stop presidential candidates from other political parties from coming to campaign in Benue State.
The statement reads: “This is sad and we believe that the attack has to do with President Bola Tinubu’s reelection bid. Governor Hyacinth Alia may have received an instruction from a higher authority to stop Peter Obi who has apparently become a threat to the APC chances of winning 2027 presidential election in Nigeria.
“The questions are, who is Alia working for. Who gave him the instruction to ask Benue youths to attack Peter Obi, an Igbo man on the soil of Benue State. Was Alia acting on his own or he was doing that as an instruction to protect President Bola Tinubu’s chances of winning Benue State in 2027. Why is it that it was the same yesterday that he addressed those youths that they went to attack Peter Obi”
“That attack is enough to break this country. It has the capacity to cause ethnic crisis if the Ibo people now say that they don’t want to see any Benue person or even any Northerner on their soil. This is how it started in South Africa unchecked and it has degenerated to a deadly point”
“We are calling on the people of Benue State to caution Governor Alia to desist from such act and apologize as the entire Ibo people in Benue state will be ready to fight back and this will have a great effect on the economy of Benue State negatively.
“We know the contributions of the Ibo people to the economic development of Benue State so we won’t fold our hands and allow Governor Alia and his thugs kill Peter Obi” it reads further.
The Ndigbo Progressive Forum also raised its displeasure over a statement credited to Governor Hyacinth Alia by his Chief Press Secretary, Kula Tersoo that Mr. Peter Obi failed to inform him of his visit to Benue State.
“The governor said yesterday that Obi didn’t inform him of his visit so he asked thugs to attack him. This is a man who has been governor for eight years. He also wrote the police commissioner in Benue state on the September 7, 2026 and he was permitted through one Officer Daniel of the Command Headquarters in Makurdi” the group noted.