Why I Turned Peter Obi Back From Visiting IDP Camps In Benue—Governor Hyacinth Alia

<h4>Why I Turned Peter Obi Back From Visiting IDP Camps In Benue<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<h4><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue has explained the reasons he turned Peter Obi back from visiting Internally Displaced Person&comma;IDPs Camps&comma; in Benue State&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>On April 14&comma; 2025&comma; Peter Obi was barred from entering Benue State Benue state by the State government&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Peter Obi had originally planned to visit both Benue and Plateau States to show support for various causes&comma; including health education and assistance for internally displaced persons &lpar;IDPs&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>However&comma; the governor&comma; in statement by his Chief Press Secretary&comma; Kulas Tersoo distanced himself and his administration from Peter Obi’s visit to Benue state&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Explaining what transpired&comma; Obi said that before that April 14&comma; he reached the governor’s aide&comma; who informed him that Alia was in an important meeting and would return his call later that day&period; However&comma; no communication followed for several days&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>On the morning of his intended visit to Benue&comma; Obi said he left Jos but was stopped by his security team around Akwanga after they received a press release attributed to the Benue State Government&comma; which appeared aimed at halting his trip&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Obi expressed disappointment over the situation&comma; emphasizing that his visit was purely humanitarian and focused on uplifting the lives of those in need&comma; particularly those affected by recent crises&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He reflected on how he had sought permission from former President Goodluck Jonathan to visit Haiti during its earthquake crisis&comma; highlighting his longstanding commitment to humanitarian causes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Obi stressed that a unified Nigeria&comma; where collective welfare is prioritized over political disputes is essential for progress&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Reacting on Wednesday when he appointed music legend&comma; Innocent Idibia popularly known as 2Baba&comma; as his Technical Adviser on Entertainment and Community Outreach&comma; governor Alia emphasized the need for due process in any official engagements especially visits&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Making allusion to the botched visit by Peter Obi&comma; governor Alia thanked Innocent Idibia for following due process&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Thank you for following up on the protocol&period; In our camps we have the support of the international community&comma; and there is an international standard&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;People abuse everything nowadays&comma; and people politicise everything&comma; including insecurity for some reason&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;So when you want to come and visit the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;vanguardngr&period;com&sol;">IDPs<&sol;a>&comma; it is a very welcome idea&comma; but we need to know who goes in and out of the camps&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;They have been traumatised enough&comma; so we need to protect them&period; Some members in the open space out there do not understand this&period; They feel it is an open house you just walk in and out&comma; ”<&sol;strong><&sol;em> Alia said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;