The Niger Delta Congress (NDC) has accused the federal leadership of prioritising crude oil over Nigerian lives and harshly criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration for what it calls the government’s “cold indifference” to the ongoing killings in Benue State.
According to Sahara Reporters, the NDC stated in a statement issued on Sunday that the government’s slow response to the frequent attacks on Benue towns points to a troubling preference for economic gain over the well-being of people, especially in areas that do not produce oil.
“It is clear now that in today’s Nigeria, a barrel of oil is worth more than a hundred lives, especially if those lives are not tied to oil wealth,” the group said.
The protest follows a recent series of alleged herdsmen attacks on rural villages in Benue State, which have reportedly killed dozens of people. Human rights organisations claim that the government has given the criminals more confidence by remaining silent and not sending enough security personnel to the region.
While the federal government responded quickly to problems in the oil-rich Niger Delta because of its economic importance, the NDC bemoaned the lack of the same urgency when lives were being sacrificed in rural areas like Benue.
“If these killings happened near oil pipelines or platforms, we know how fast the federal response would be,” the group added. “But when it’s innocent families in Benue or the Middle Belt, the country looks the other way.”
The intervention by the Niger Delta group is a reflection of the nation’s mounting dissatisfaction with the federal government’s alleged inability to address the rising levels of insecurity in various parts of Nigeria. The NDC stated that it stood in solidarity with other neglected regions of the nation, notwithstanding the Niger Delta’s longstanding complaints about marginalisation and environmental damage.
“No one should be sacrificed for anything—certainly not for oil or political calculations,” the statement read, adding that “we in the Niger Delta understand what it means to be sacrificed for national economic interests.”
The group urged President Tinubu to demonstrate that “every Nigerian life matters, regardless of geography or resource endowment” by addressing the killings in Benue with the same vigour his administration uses to protect oil installations.
Benue state authorities, religious leaders, and civil society organisations have also called for immediate federal action. Recently, Governor Hyacinth Alia referred to the attacks as “systematic genocide” and urged Abuja to act swiftly to stop armed groups from destroying rural areas.
Despite campaign pledges to put security and national unity first, opponents have charged the Tinubu administration with inaction and quietness.
A growing public disenchantment with the government’s management of internal security and its alleged inequitable treatment of human rights and justice is indicated by the outcry from organisations such as the Niger Delta Congress as the death toll in Benue continues to increase.
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