Amid the mixed reactions that trailed his visit to Benue State on Wednesday, the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, has commended President Bola Tinubu for the visit.
Prof. Utsev hailed the President for visiting Benue State to offer his condolences to the good people of the state over the sustained killings of innocent citizens by herdsmen militia.
Tinubu’s visit follows the horrified
killing of about 200 people, including children in Yelewata, Guma Local Government Area of the state.
Although the visit attracted criticisms from notable Nigerians who believed it was more of a carnival than a condolence visit, the Minister described the visit as timely and a clear demonstration of the spirit of a servant-leader who is concerned about the lives and welfare of citizens.
Utsev, in a statement on Friday by his Personal Assistant on Media and Publicity, Terhemen Oraduen, submitted that the visit afforded Mr President an opportunity to interact with Benue people and know more about the level of insecurity bedeviling the state, with a view to finding lasting solutions to the age-long carnage.
He particularly thanked the President for directing security Chiefs in the country to go all out and hunt down the killer herders who perpetrated the heinous acts, especially the latest attack on Yelewata Community of Guma Local Government Area.
The Minister equally commended President Tinubu for directing the immediate setting up of a peace committee in the state that will include former Governors of Benue, elders, traditional rulers among others to meet with him in Abuja to fashion out a framework for lasting peace .
He thanked President Tinubu and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, for visiting victims of the attacks who are receiving treatment at the hospital and giving them words of hope and assurance.
Prof. Utsev prayed that the Almighty God continues to give Mr President the stamina and wisdom to continue to steer the ship of the nation to the destination where peace, unity, tranquility and prosperity will be the order of the day in the country.
