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A United Kingdom-based Benue-born lawyer, Barrister Kamo Sende, has launched a scathing attack on the Chairman of Ukum Local Government Area for abruptly halting a thanksgiving service planned by Reverend Father Moses Akutah, describing the decision as “mindless hypocrisy and a brazen illiteracy of the Constitution.”
In a strongly worded statement circulating widely on social media this evening, Sende accused the council chairman of misplacing his priorities at a time when insecurity continues to ravage parts of the Sankera axis, including Ukum. Rather than tackle the rising cases of killings, kidnappings, and banditry, the lawyer argued, the chairman is busy obstructing peaceful religious gatherings that could even foster unity and provide spiritual solace to traumatized communities.
Sende particularly took aim at PDP members in the area for what he called their sudden embrace of “due process” in this instance, while maintaining a conspicuous silence when a similar thanksgiving event was cancelled in Gboko Local Government Area in 2022 under controversial circumstances. He described the selective application of legality as dangerous, warning that it is steadily eroding public trust and institutionalizing irresponsibility.
The most stinging part of the statement, however, was reserved for what Sende sees as deepening ethnic irony within the Tiv nation: “Tiv people are now preventing fellow Tiv people from accessing Tiv land simply because of temporary political power,” he wrote, adding grimly, “Benue is in trouble.”
The thanksgiving service in question was scheduled to hold in Ukum as part of activities marking Reverend Father Akutah’s priestly anniversary and his expression of gratitude for surviving recent security challenges in the area. The abrupt cancellation by the local government authorities has sparked anger among clergy, youths, and civil society groups in Sankera, with many echoing Sende’s view that the decision is politically motivated and divisive.
As of press time, the Ukum Local Government Chairman is yet to respond to the barrage of criticism. Meanwhile, voices across Benue are calling for dialogue and restraint, warning that turning places of worship into political battlegrounds will only deepen the wounds of a region already bleeding from years of violence and distrust.
