A human rights activist and counsel for the Indigenous People of Biafra, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has called for a constitutional intervention to tackle the ongoing security crisis in Benue State.
Ejiofor said in light of the relentless and gruesome massacre of innocent civilians in the state, and following the recent exoneration of Fulani herdsmen by the state governor, Hyacinth Alia, it has become imperative for the Federal Government under President Bola Tinubu to invoke its constitutional mandate to protect lives and preserve national security.
He noted that Section 305(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) empowers the President to declare a State of Emergency where there is a breakdown of public order or imminent danger to life and property.
In a statement he released on Monday, the rights activist said, given the scale and persistence of the ongoing attacks, allegedly perpetrated by foreign militias infiltrating through the Cameroon border, as reported by the state governor, the constitutional threshold has been surpassed
