Human Rights Lawyer Ejiofor Slams Gov. Alia Over ‘No Self-Defence’ Comment: Tells Him to Return to Pulpit
Reverend Hyacinth Alia and Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor
The lead counsel for the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has strongly criticized the Governor of Benue State, Reverend Hyacinth Alia, for advising his people not to defend themselves against attacks.
In a statement titled “The Tragedy of Silence in the Face of Slaughter: A Response to Gov. Alia’s Pronouncement” issued on Friday, Ejiofor described the Governor’s stance as evidence that he is ill-prepared for leadership.
According to Ejiofor, the Governor’s call for unarmed and defenseless citizens to refrain from self-defense is not only a dereliction of duty but also a betrayal of the collective suffering endured by the people of Benue, who are facing one of the worst humanitarian crises in Nigeria’s modern history.
He said that any leader who cannot shield his people from violence is unfit to hold office.
Ejiofor further argued that if Governor Alia has become disconnected from the harsh realities facing his constituents and insists on preaching peace where none exists, it is the constitutional responsibility of the Benue State House of Assembly to intervene and restore leadership that reflects realism rather than idealistic denial.
The statement reads in part:“It is both distressing and disheartening to hear Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State himself a former Reverend Father openly discourage the very people he vowed to protect from defending themselves against the brutal incursions of killer herdsmen. His call for unarmed and defenseless citizens to avoid self-defense is not only a failure of leadership; it is a profound betrayal of the Benue people’s collective agony amid one of the worst humanitarian crises in Nigeria’s history.
Governor Alia’s stance confirms what many have feared: he is tragically unsuited for the brutal realities of political leadership. While his clerical training may have prepared him for the pulpit, it has not equipped him for the urgent and often harsh demands of governing a state under siege. The question must now be asked: how many more lives will be lost before Governor Alia understands that prayer without decisive action is mere pious abdication?
It is particularly shameful that, while other respected Nigerians—including past and present security chiefs have urged indigenous communities under repeated, unprovoked attack to defend themselves as a legitimate means of survival, the Governor of a frontline state like Benue chooses to advocate for passive submission in the face of death. This is not leadership; it is surrender.
If the Tinubu-led Federal Government lacks the moral and political courage to declare a State of Emergency in Benue, then the responsibility now falls squarely on the Benue State House of Assembly. The Nigerian Constitution empowers them to act decisively in defense of their people. If Governor Alia is out of touch with his people’s suffering and continues to preach peace where there is none, it is incumbent upon the House to invoke constitutional mechanisms and return him to the pulpit where idealism, not pragmatic leadership, belongs.
This is not merely a political matter it is about lives, about families destroyed, farmlands razed, and entire communities living in fear in their ancestral homes. Any leader who cannot stand between his people and the sword is simply unfit to sit on the throne.
May God deliver Benue State from the paralysing grip of a Governor who has lost both the will to lead and the conscience to care.”
