Retired AIG Farida Waziri, former Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has made an urgent plea to former governors, legislators, traditional rulers, and other key figures in Benue State to put aside your differences, unite, and act swiftly to protect your people from the relentless attacks and killings.
Waziri made call on Saturday, June 28, as she donated essential relief materials to those affected by recent gunmen attacks in the Yelwata community and to displaced persons residing in the IDP camp in Makurdi, the state capital.
The donated items included bags of rice, sugar, tubers of yam, and various other household necessities.
Persecondnews had reported that at least 200 villagers were killed on June 13 in the horrendous terrorist attacks in Yelewata, Benue State.
She said: “This is no time for division. It is no time for political squabbling or ego-driven manoeuvring. Among us are men and women who have led this state — former governors, legislators, traditional rulers — individuals with influence and authority. The time has come to set aside our differences and stand united, for the sake of the ordinary Benue man, woman, and child.
“That is why I stand here today to make this urgent and heartfelt appeal to our leaders: cast aside rivalry, unite, and act. Act with urgency. Act with purpose. Because what we face now increasingly resembles a deliberate, coordinated effort to erase our people and our heritage.
“We must take heed of the words of Sir Winston Churchill, who once said: ‘Our difficulties and dangers will not be removed by closing our eyes to them.’
“Another of Churchill’s warnings is just as relevant to our present predicament: ‘If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed… you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival.”
While stating that her call was a build-up to the earlier proposal by President Bola Tinubu during his recent visit to Benue, Waziri noted that meetings alone would not solve the problem.
She also said: “But let us be sincere: peace will not come from meetings alone. To end the cycle of violence, we must confront its roots. Before the Yelwata massacre, communities in Gwer West, Apa, and Guma had already endured weeks of killings, kidnappings, and raids.
“These horrors did not emerge in a vacuum; they are symptoms of deeper issues. We must therefore confront the real causes — ethnic and religious tensions, unchecked banditry, and the rise of cultism as well as the abuse of illicit drugs.
“These forces must be tackled, along with the herder-farmer conflict, with honesty and courage. We cannot afford to keep going in circles. And there is no room for blame games. Our leaders — and indeed, all of us — must be pragmatic.
“So today, let us commit, as one people, to healing our wounds, reclaiming our land, and ensuring that never again will a child in Benue grow up in a camp instead of a home.
“The development in Benue must be of concern to all sons and daughters of Benue regardless of whether we live within its borders or far away in the diaspora to find out the root cause of these attacks with a view to proffering solutions that will bring an end to these barbaric acts”
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