Senator Abba Moro’s Office Slams Former Lawmaker Francis Ottah Agbo as “Sell-Out” Over Benue Attacks Criticism

The office of Senate Minority Leader and Senator representing Benue South Senatorial District, Abba Moro, has launched a sharp rebuttal against former House of Representatives member Francis Ottah Agbo, describing him as a “sell-out” and accusing him of playing politics with the recent killings in Benue South.

In a statement issued on Thursday by his Media Adviser, Emmanuel Eche’Ofun John, Moro’s office dismissed Agbo’s criticism of the senator’s response to the attacks in Otukpo Local Government Area. The former lawmaker had alleged that Senator Moro was more preoccupied with raising motions in Abuja instead of visiting victims on the ground.

Defending Moro’s actions, the statement highlighted that the senator was among the first public officials to condemn the attacks, visit affected communities in a representative capacity, donate N2 million to victims, raise a motion on the Senate floor, and address a press conference to draw national and international attention to the crisis. It added that the senator would still visit the communities, but “not for validation or praises.”

The statement insisted that speaking for victims at the national level is part of the senator’s constitutional responsibility. “Senator Moro is not grandstanding in Abuja but effectively doing the work that he’s elected to do for his people; to loudly speak for them,” it read. “Speaking for his people who are attacked, killed, maimed and sacked from their ancestral homes does not amount to dancing on the grave of those killed but a fight for them so that their death won’t be in vain.”

Moro’s office further criticised Agbo’s political ambitions, alleging they are driven by external interests rather than the welfare of Benue South people. It described claims that the senator should use constituency resources for security as “absurd and ridiculous,” noting that senators have no monthly security allocation beyond annual budget provisions. The statement emphasised that Governor Hyacinth Alia bears the primary constitutional responsibility for protecting lives and property in the state.

The exchange has further intensified political tensions in Benue South amid ongoing security challenges in the region.