By Ben Atonko
If what happened in a church in Gboko, Benue State on Sunday August 31 2025 did not move the Pope, the Benue State Council of Traditional Rulers and the Tiv Traditional Area Council (TTAC), nothing will.
The Pope, the Catholic church in Benue State and of course, the entire Christian community should show concern.
The governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia stood up during church service, grabbed the microphone, facing the congregation, went berserk, turning the solemn gathering into a political jamboree.
Instead of giving the people a message of consolation and hope in the midst of the troubling times, the governor chose rather to denigrate, derogate, humiliate and run down the traditional stool of Gboko.
In exhilaration, the governor spoke in Tiv, gloating over the recent removal of the Speaker, Benue State House of Assembly, Mr Hyacinth Dajoh.
He hurled on the Gboko monarch, His Royal Majesty, Ter Gboko Gabriel Shosum the vilest epithet of “mbatsav”, drawing rapturous cheers from the gathering. Mbatsav in Tiv means a witch or wizard.
According to the governor, the Ter Gboko and the erstwhile Speaker are mbatsav because they plotted evil against him.
What evidence has the governor to prove that the Ter Gboko worked in cahoots with the former Speaker against him? He chose to link the royal father with the actions of the Speaker simply because the Speaker hails from Gboko?
Alia praised himself, equating himself to a superman who was able to crush the duo.
The speech aroused the youths who accompanied the governor and they swarmed and surged toward the traditional ruler.
They attempted to assault Ter Gboko. If not for the swift action by discerning and thoughtful men who shielded and whisked the chief way, it would have been a huge tragedy right under the nose of the governor.
One expects the Tiv Traditional Council to react immediately. Nothing!
This apparently smacks of recklessness. Why would one who calls himself the Chief Security Officer indulge in a behaviour that is impulsive, irresponsible, or lacking in caution.
The sermon of that Sunday was lost in the political talk of the governor. Rather, his talk it was that excited the people — overflowed and went far and wide.
Unfortunately, he does not give a hoot to the consequences of this action of his. The man has no regards for even the church that helped him.
The Catholic Church respects tradition. In fact, Rome that accommodates the Holy See is partly a symbol of the European civilisation which is why the Papacy was initially exclusively for the Romans. So what grounds has Alia to desecrate tradition?
The Pope did well when he spoke up for truth and justice on June 15, 2025 after the Yelewata masacre in Benue State.
Conversely, the voice of this same Alia that threatened fire and brimstone in church was unheard when Fulani terrorists invaded Yelewata and murderd over 200 poor, hapless and unarmed folks in their sleep. What an irony!
The Pope may as well do good by restraining Alia from further entering his church to spew hate and incite war.
If the Catholic Bishop of Gboko Diocese, Most Reverend William Avenya has compromised and cannot call Alia to order, the Vatican should not fail in this crucial responsibility.
Similarly, the National Security Advisor (NSO), Mr Nuhu Ribadu should take special notice of what Alia is doing in Benue State. If Ribadu is not aware, he should be informed that Benue State has already marked itself as a flashpoint ahead of 2027.
What if the traditional ruler had stood, and dared the Alia thugs to cast a stone on him?
Imagine that the thugs laid their hands on the chief, dragged and threw him to the ground and spilt his blood. It would have been a very unsightly scene.
What the governor did had potential for war. Would things have been cool had the No Alia No Benue-yelling thugs inflicted injuries or killed the traditional ruler?
Non Gboko indigenes especially those who migrated from Vandeikya which is the governor’s home local government area would have immediately become object of attack by the indigenous Gboko people.
Let it be made abundantly clear that Gboko was the commercial nerve centre of Benue State when Benue Cement Company (BCC) was in its hayday. For this reason, it drew people from within and outside the state.
Therefore, a conflict of this nature could indeed have far-reaching effects, potentially impacting economy and politics.
The other day, the governor went to a church during service and, in his characteristic manner, seized the microphone and described his own appointee, a professor in some very disparaging words.
In that same church were seated friends, relations and supporters of the appointee. How would they feel hearing their own called a thief?
Alia should be barred from speaking in church immediately because of his penchant for turning the holy altar and solemn ground to his political platform.
The Pope should issue the directive now. Alia should be made to limit his wizardly gibberish to gatherings designed for political campaigns.
How would the Pope have felt receiving news that a local chief was hacked down during mass by acts of a contumac and riotous priest who has been placed under canonical punishment?
For what reason would one who calls himself the Chief Security Officer turn himself into an agent for security breaches.
There is nothing godly about this man and the earlier the Benue State people know it, the better for them.
By this act, the question, where is Alia from becomes more germaine. Does he truly hail from Benue State?
Nobody should push meaningless religious sentiments here. Many so called Men of God are poverty-stricken individuals who only turn to the church to find succour and sanctuary. There is nothing godly about them.
Alia is power drunk. But he should know that government office is ephemeral and he is not the first governor to face opposition. He has not got a whiff of what real opposition can be nor encountered the heat some governors have encountered.
The first civilian governor of the Food Basket state, Aper Aku said to be the best to have governed the state suffered huge attacks from opposition led by the firebrand and incendiary Wantaregh Paul Unongo (now late).
Akume faced it and so did Suswam. In fact, Alia’s predecessor suffered it the most because from the presidency, the fire was stoked against him for his daring to challenge former President Muhammadu Buhari over sustained terrorist attacks on Benue State villages.
Ortom chose to stand with the people unlike what Benue State has today. In fact, it was a war against Ortom. Yet he was no provocateur. He was calm. Ortom never entered churches to whip up dangerous sentiments.
Now, thuggery activities that were part of the Gabriel Suswam-led administration have returned in Benue State. Conscientious people should rise up and nip this in the bud otherwise it will be damn bloody electioneering.
Why must anyone who disagrees with Alia is mbatsav and must be crushed? The Pope should stop Alia now!
Atonko is a political analysts (benaton2000@yahoo.com)
