MIDDLE BELT CHRISTIANS FORUM (MBCF) CONDEMNS BENUE STATE GOVERNMENT ON THE DAILY ASSULT, BLACKMAIL AND THE ASSASSINATION OF CHARACTER OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF NIGERIA
*.Warns Gov Alia on the Consequences of his Fight Against the Judiciary
25TH MARCH, 2025.
PRESS RELEASE.
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, the only son of the living God.
1.The MIDDLE BELT CHRISTIANS FORM (MBCF) is an umbrella body of all the registered Christian denominations within the Middle Belt of Nigeria.
2.The MBCF notes with great concern the daily unjustifiable insults, ASSULT, blackmail and assassination of character of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon Justice Kekere-Ekun.
3.It would be recalled that in Benue State , Judiciary has been rendered comatose for about 4 months now as the courts have remained under locks and keys while the detainees and those awaiting trials are languishing in detention facilities and prisons because there is no court in BENUE State to secure their bail. The Judiciary staff in Benue State were forced to embark on strike since December of Last year, 2024 due to salary payment dispute. Their repeated appeals for payment of their salary and other remunerations were bluntly ignored and rejected by the Benue State Governor. Till date, the BENUE State Governor appears not to be bothered about the lingering JUSUN strike in the state because he feels he does not need the courts anymore.
4.To further compound the government-sponsored war on the Judiciary, the BENUE State Government wrote a letter to inform the BENUE State House of Assembly to remove and sack the Chief Judge of BENUE State, Hon.Justice Maurice IKPAMBESE, a move that was widely criticized and condemned by the Nigeria Bar Association and the National Judicial Council (NJC).
5.In a swift reaction, the NJC headed by The Chief Justice of Nigeria directed that neither the Benue State Governor nor the State House of Assembly of BENUE State has the necessary powers to sack or remove the Chief Judge of the state without the directive of the NJC. The NJC then re-affirrmed that Hon Justice Maurice IKPAMBESE remains the Chief Judge of BENUE State.
6.In a yet another move to rubbish the directive of the NJC, the BENUE State Government contracted a motor truck to convey huge trips of sharp sand to block the entrance gate to the office of the Chief Judge of the state and the BENUE State High Court, Makurdi. This action was also widely condemned by many lovers of democracy thereby forcing the Governor to issue a fake denial.
7.Not done with the assault and war on the Judiciary, the Benue State Government appointees decided to sponsor thugs using the state Government branded vehicles to organize daily violent protest against judges and lawyers in BENUE State. During the daily violent protests, all roads leading to the courts were usually blocked, commuters were assaulted, and cars destroyed. Some judges and their aids were also attacked and thoroughly beaten to stupor in a broad-day light when sponsored thugs loyal to the BENUE State Government invaded their meetings. The thugs were seen brandishing dangerous weapons and banners with offensive messages while others contain the infamous “NO ALIA, NO BENUE” inscriptions.
8.It was reported that in one other ugly incidents, thugs loyal and sponsored by the appointees of the BENUE State Government invaded the venue of the BENUE State Election Petition Tribunal in Makurdi thereby forcing the Tribunal Judges and lawyers to abort the proceedings and flee for their lives. The security agencies in the state can attest to these ugly occurrences.
9.The appalling state of the sponsored and self-inflicted insecurity in Benue State was duly acknowledged in the series of letters written by some Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) engaged by the BENUE State Government to represent the government at the Local Government Election Petition Tribunal. While these attacks lasted, no word of condemnation was heard from the BENUE State Government.
10.The daily attacks on the Judiciary and the Election Petition Tribunal orchestrated by the sponsored thugs in Benue had forced the Chief Judge of BENUE State, Hon Justice Maurice IKPAMBESE, to write to the Chairman of the National Judicial Council and who also doubles as the Chief Justice of Nigeria -Hon Justice Kekere-Ekun for directives.
11.The CJN promptly approved the relocation of the Benue State Local Government Election Petition Tribunal to Abuja in order to prevent the election petitions from becoming statute barred. This was one of the moves that angered the Benue State Government and the Governor to launch daily attacks of blackmail and character assassination on the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).
12.In compliance with the directive of the CJN, the Benue State Local Government Election Petition Tribunal was relocated to Abuja to forestall further attacks but the Benue State Government sponsored aggressors never relent. On the 17th March, 2025, some sponsored thugs mainly made up of Almajiri were mobilized to stage protests in Mararaba-Nyanya and Lugbe , Abuja. The sponsored thugs blocked express roads with banners containing the pictures of the CJN, Hon Justice Kekere-Edun with offensive inscriptions. These disturbing images permeated and dominated the front pages of both the social and conventional National and International media platforms. These recent sad episodes do not portray the Christian people of BENUE State in good light and no thanks to the BENUE State Government and the Governor.
13.In BENUE State, it is also an offense to organize any form of political gatherings and religious Thanksgiving without the Governor’s permission as a result of the tyrannical Executive Order on Ban on Political Gatherings and Thanksgiving as promulgated by the Governor. Some Christians who defied the Ban on Political Gatherings and Religious Thanksgiving were thoroughly beaten to stupor by the Benue State government appointees and sponsored thugs right inside the churches. Clergymen were not spared too as some pastors and Reverend Fathers were beaten for daring to conduct Thanksgiving services in their churches without the Governor’s approval. Many political gatherings and meetings in the state were disrupted by the sponsored violent thugs.
14.In Benue State, court judgments against the state Government and its interests are never obeyed . Business premises of the perceived enemies of the State Governor are often locked up and sealed with crude impunity. It is on record that Business premises of Hon. Arc. Asema Achado (House of Rep member) was sealed and the popular Joy FM radio Station belonging to the Distinguished Senator David Mark (Former Senate President) was also invaded during a live program, the Radio staff were beaten and the radio station sealed at the instruction of the BENUE State Government. Press freedom is also lost in the state as many journalists and freelance bloggers have been arrested and detained indefinitely.
15. We at the MIDDLE BELT CHRISTIANS FORUM (MBCF) want the United Nations, the African Union, Amnesty International and the entire world to know that the government we have in Benue State under Rev Fr Alia is worse than the Terror Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
16.As an umbrella body of All the registered Christian denominations within Middle Belt of Nigeria, we respectfully warn the Benue State Governor to prevail on his appointees to desist from further blackmail , assault and character assassination on the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and stop the needless war on the Judiciary and the church.
17.In a constitutional democracy, rule of law, separation of powers, Human Rights and respect for Judiciary are the crucial ingredients without which, the society would be thrown into a state of nature where life is short, harsh and brutish.
18.As a critical Stakeholder for society development, MBCF cannot afford to watch and keep quiet while BENUE State is being fastly destroyed by the destructive agents of the BENUE State Government. In a democracy, Judiciary and the Church are not only the last hope of the common man but the two institutions are also the last hope of the strong man. As a politician priest, the Benue State Governor should be reminded that his mandate as a Governor of Benue State was protected and preserved through the Judiciary up to the highest court of the land – The Supreme Court of Nigeria. It is therefore an act of sheer wickedness, wizardry, arrogance and crass ignorance for a man to destroy the ladder that helps him to climb to the top forgetting that he may still need the same ladder to climb down.
19.We use this opportunity to appeal to the MOST POWERFUL GOVERNOR in Nigeria, Gov. Rev Fr Alia, to be civil in his actions and approaches. We wish to remind him that anarchy and lawlessness are rather counterproductive.
20.Governor Rev. Fr Alia should be further reminded that BENUE State does not belong to him alone and that BENUE STATE existed before him and the state shall continue to exist after him and without him. Therefore, his infamous “NO ALIA, NO BENUE” slogan is rather archaic , uncivilized, tyrannical and crude. As a priest Governor, Gov. Alia should be well aquatinted with the story of King Nebuchadnezzar in the Holy Bible and it is wiser for the Governor not to turn himself to the Nebuchadnezzar of BENUE and Adolf Hitler of Nigeria. If he does, posterity will not remember him for good.
21.To Gov Alia, MBCF says ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. We beseech the Governor to immediately End the senseless and needless war on the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and stop the attack on the Judiciary in order to pave way for the development of BENUE State.
Thank you.
Signed:
PASTOR SIMON TERZUNGWE.
PRESIDENT,
MIDDLE BELT CHRISTIANS FORUM.
JOS, PLATEAU STATE.
