The Head of Defense explained how residents helped the attacker to succeed

Defense Chief of Staff, General Christopher Musa, has made a surprising revelation that the residents of Yelwata, the new Benue Community were destroyed by mass murder, helping the perpetrators by giving them a shelter, food, and even women.

General Musa revealed this during the expanded media briefing held at the defense headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, where he discussed recent developments in national security and countries of civil-military relations.

According to the Head of Defense, a brutal attack that claimed more than 100 lives-was carried out using a “hit-and-run approach” after security forces were misled by fake intelligences that show threats in another part of the state.

“These criminals are accommodated by people in the community. They are given food. They are even given women. They are guided where the IDP camp is located. However, security forces do not receive information,” he said. “This is why we consistently urge the community to be vigilant and report suspicious activities. Security is the responsibility of everyone.”

Ball President Ahmed Tinubu, during a condolence visit to Benue on Wednesday, directed security agents to ensure that those who were behind the massacre in Yelwata, the Guma Regional Government, were arrested and prosecuted.

General Musa stressed that the President’s direction was being treated very urgently. “The president has ordered full activation of the national security forces. The perpetrators will be found and taken to court,” he convinced.

He then warned about the increasing threat caused by the Nigerian porous border, especially in the midst of increasing conflicts in the Sahel region.

Also read: IDP Benue Protest Abandonment, Alleged Diving Material Assistance

“The entry of weapons and fighters from crisis countries such as Sudan, Libya, and the Central African Republic is worrying,” he said. “We must take cues from countries like Pakistan which build enriched border structures. Our extensive and unprotected borders are now exploited by unstable forces.”

CDS recommends for “all community approaches” for security, emphasizing the need for closer collaboration between the military, civilian institutions, and the community to effectively fight insecurity.

Also speaking at Briefing, Deputy Director of Defense Media Operations, Brigadier General Ibrahim Abu-Mawashi, gave a comprehensive disorder from military achievement over the past two years.

The Director of Defense Information, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, echoed the military determination to maintain transparency and strengthen his ties with civilians, emphasized that this effort was in line with the purpose of General Musa to build “armed forces centered on people.”

Previously, during the Conference on the Relationship of the Civil Headquarters Headquarters of the Defense Headquarters, General Musa admitted that the distrust that was rooted between the military and civilians.

“The military has been seen not as an ongoing partner, but as a occupation power, an alien for those who are intended to serve and protect,” he said.

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who served as a special guest of honor at the event, also spoke honestly about the challenges faced by military-sipil trust.

“The reality that we face today is uncomfortable but undeniable: there is a deficit of trust between the military and many Nigerian population segments,” he said.

“Civilians, in some places, consider the armed forces not as partners in peace, but as the power of aggression, brutal, offensive, and far. This perception, both based on history, wrong information or isolated incidents, pose a big threat to Unity and national stability.”

He stressed the need for Nigerians to regain their military ownership. “The armed forces belong to the people. They are not separate machines. They are national institutions, are owned, funded, and mandated by the Government of the Federal Nigeria Republic, on behalf of every Nigerian citizen,” he said.

“It’s time for Nigerians to see the military not as a occupation force, but as a force for good, for protection, and for progress.”