Benue PDP governorship candidate Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, SAN, has urged his supporters to remain calm and avoid any form of retaliation following reports that campaign materials bearing his image were burned. A video of the incident has circulated online, though the identities and motives of those involved remain unverified.
In a statement issued on 26 September 2026, Aondoakaa called on supporters not to retaliate, not to destroy anyone’s campaign materials and not to engage in violence. He warned against being provoked into actions that could tarnish the cause represented under the Peoples Democratic Party, stressing that the price of peace is far cheaper than the cost of violence. Peace builds and unites while creating hope, he said, whereas violence destroys, divides and leaves pain.
Those who seek to provoke anger and disorder, according to him, aim to distract from the movement’s message and create confusion. He insisted that supporters must not give such elements the opportunity and must disappoint those who expect a response of bitterness and violence. The strength of the BENUE FIRST movement, he added, does not lie in posters, banners, billboards or campaign materials but in the conviction of the people, a shared vision for a safer and more prosperous Benue, and the collective determination to restore hope. Campaign materials can be destroyed, he noted, but the aspirations of the people cannot be burned, the desire for peace cannot be set ablaze, and the demand for good governance cannot be intimidated into silence.
Aondoakaa appealed to every supporter to remain focused on the values that brought them together, to demonstrate respect for the law, for opponents and for the democratic process, and to show the clear difference between a movement that seeks to inspire and one that seeks to intimidate, between one that builds and one that destroys, and between one guided by peace and one driven by hostility. Throughout his public life, he said, he has stood on the side of justice, fairness and peaceful coexistence and remains committed to those ideals. He believes Benue deserves politics that unites rather than divides, protects rather than persecutes, and offers hope rather than fear.
He therefore urged supporters to resist every temptation to retaliate and every act of provocation, to remain peaceful, disciplined and focused, and to let their conduct speak louder than the actions of others. History, he concluded, will judge not by how loudly people spoke in moments of provocation but by how responsibly they acted. He called on all to choose the path of peace, justice and a better Benue.
