Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 general elections, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has criticized President Bola Tinubu for failing to visit Yelwata—the Benue community where over 200 people were killed by suspected herdsmen.

 

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday, Adebayo faulted the president’s decision to not step foot in the exact location of the massacre during his condolence visit to Benue on June 18, 2025.

 

He dismissed Tinubu’s reasons as unacceptable, insisting that as Commander-in-Chief, the president had a duty to visit every part of the country, no matter how remote.

 

“He cannot say, as Commander-in-Chief, that there’s a part of the country unreachable by him. People are living there,” Adebayo said.

 

 

 

He accused the president of politicizing what should have been a solemn visit, lamenting the lack of empathy shown during the trip.

 

“Even during the Nigerian civil war, losing 200 people at once would have made major headlines,” Adebayo added. “A place of such mourning demands seriousness. But instead, it felt like a political rally.”

 

 

 

He argued that President Tinubu should have visited as a chief mourner, not as a political figure, urging more sensitivity in the president’s choice of words and demeanor during national tragedies.

 

“The language should have been somber. The tone should have been more reflective of the pain those people are feeling,” he concluded.