Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has faulted the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mkar in Gboko, Benue State, Prof Zacharys Gundu, over a controversial claim that Nasarawa is serving as a haven for bandits responsible for deadly attacks in parts of Benue.
Describing the comment as “provocative” and “unhelpful,” Sule warned that such statements are capable of escalating tension rather than resolving the pressing security concerns shared by both states.
“What happened is that when we saw the information, we saw how provocative it was. We saw that, instead of resolving issues, it will end up creating more problems.
“So we sent a letter to him (the vice-chancellor) to withdraw that kind of statement because the statement coming from a learned person like him will not help anybody,” Sule said during a live phone interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Sunday.
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The governor denied the allegation that Nasarawa was providing a safe haven for bandits, stressing that the state had also borne the brunt of criminal attacks.
“These people don’t need a house. They just come in through the bushes, and they go from one place to the other, and they attack Nasarawa as well.
“They kidnap our people, and we go after them. At one point, you will remember when I came in as a governor in 2019, we found some of these people actually at a camp in a local government.
“I had to visit the former president, Muhammadu Buhari, who assisted us and gave us what you call joint operation from the air, land and sea to dislodge these people,” he said.
Sule also noted that his administration had maintained active cooperation with Benue authorities on security matters, including constant communication with Governor Hyacinth Alia and former Governor Samuel Ortom.
“I spoke with his governor about the statement, and we also wrote to him. And, from my understanding, he is trying to come to me to apologise for what he said.
“When anything happened between the Benue State governor and me, even the former governor (Samuel) Ortom, we continued to exchange security information,” he added.
He explained that Nasarawa’s geographical location, bordering Benue, naturally makes it a transit route for criminal elements moving southward, but this does not mean the state harbours them.
“Yes, it’s just like saying somebody attacked Lagos through Ogun. Where else will the person come through? Is he going to come through the sea? So the person has to come through Ogun because Ogun is the only state that has a border with Lagos.
“So it’s similar to this. Some of these people coming from the north end up coming through Nasarawa, but we don’t entertain them.
“So the statement that I didn’t enjoy and I didn’t think was fair to us was to say that we were even housing the people,” Sule said.
The governor urged critics to take a broader view of the banditry crisis and focus on collaborative efforts to address the national security threat rather than casting blame.
