The Commissioner of Police in Benue State, Cletus Nwadiogbu, has said the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) did not ask the police to transmit a letter notifying Governor Hyacinth Alia of Peter Obi’s planned visit to the state.
Nwadiogbu said the letter was presented to him by NDC members who visited his office to inform the police command about the former Anambra State governor’s arrival, primarily to enable the command to make adequate security arrangements.
The commissioner spoke on Channels Television’s Lunch Time Politics programme on Thursday while explaining the circumstances surrounding the disruption of Obi’s movement in Benue State on Tuesday.
According to Nwadiogbu, the NDC delegation initially informed the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of its intention to visit him but arrived at about 5:30pm, after several hours of waiting.
He said the delegation eventually presented him with a letter informing him that Obi would arrive in the state at about 8am the following day.
Nwadiogbu said the short notice posed a challenge because of manpower constraints, noting that police personnel were already deployed on various assignments.
The commissioner, however, said the delegation explained that Obi was not visiting the state for a campaign but for a private engagement and would require only a limited number of security personnel.
He said he subsequently deployed three patrol teams to accompany Obi during the visit.
“When they told me, I said, well, I cannot stop them. When I told them, they said no, he’s not coming for campaign, he’s just coming for a visit. What they need is just few men. I said okay, I’d not give a VIP that few men. I am going to make sure I provide three patrol teams with full complements, and that was exactly what I did,” he said.
Nwadiogbu said the patrol teams were led by the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations as part of the security arrangements for the visit.
Clarifying the controversy over whether the police were expected to forward the NDC’s letter to Governor Alia, the commissioner said the delegation never made such a request.
“To the issue of transmitting the letter to the governor, they never told me to transmit to anybody,” he said.
According to him, the delegation’s purpose was to notify the police command so that security could be provided for Obi’s movement.
Nwadiogbu also denied that the officers deployed for the visit were assigned to deal with possible protests, saying they were deployed strictly for security purposes.
The clarification followed Tuesday’s disruption of Obi’s movement in the state, after youths reportedly blocked his convoy along the Makurdi-Gboko Federal Highway.
The incident triggered condemnation from the NDC and Obi’s supporters, with allegations that the disruption was politically motivated.
The Benue State Government, however, denied involvement in the incident.
Obi, who reacted to the development during his visit to the state, condemned what he described as “rascality,” while opposition figures, including Omoyele Sowore and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, also condemned the incident.
The police command has since arrested 46 suspects in connection with the disruption, saying the arrests followed intelligence-led operations.
The incident is not the first time Obi’s movement in Benue has been disrupted.
In April 2025, his planned visit to nursing schools and internally displaced persons’ camps in Makurdi and Gboko was disrupted following a notice by the Benue State Government concerning “unscheduled visits.”
The government had cited security concerns, following which Obi turned back to avoid a confrontation and redirected his visit to Plateau State.
Tuesday’s incident therefore marks the second reported disruption of Obi’s movement in Benue State.
