Popular comedian, Efe Warriboy has berated Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia for declaring Wednesday, June 18, a public holiday to welcome President Bola Tinubu to the state amid statewide mourning over the recent Yelewata massacre.

UGAMATV reported that the Benue State government in a statement released on Tuesday by the Secretary to the State Government, Serumun Deborah Ambe, declared Wednesday a public holiday to honour Tinubu during his one-day visit to the state and urged residents to “come out en-masse” to welcome the president.

Reacting in a video message shared via his Instagram page, Efe Warriboy stated that Governor Alia’s declaration of a public holiday over the president’s visit to the state was a mockery of the bereaved people of Benue.

He said, “I’m trying my best not to be rude while making this video, but given this scenario, it would be difficult. What’s happening now in Benue State shows that regardless of your title, whether Reverend Father or Senior Pastor, once you hold power in Nigeria, a demon will enter inside you. That’s what I’ve noticed. And when you join APC, it gets worse. Even PDP, they are all the same.

“Just imagine the nonsense declaration of public holiday over President Tinubu’s first in Benue. The Governor is even supposed to be in a state of mourning and not telling people, who just lost their family members, to come and celebrate Tinubu’s visit.

“A man said in a viral video that he lost 20 family members. But the most important to the Governor is welcoming Tinubu. The president is supposed to sneak into the state and not expect a heroic welcome. Is he coming to commission a project or dead bodies?

“What is wrong with you, Nigerian politicians? What Governor Alia is doing is simply playing politics with the lives of the Benue people. He is trying not to do anything that will make his political overlords deny him his re-election ticket in 2027.

“If not so, how do you explain this nonsense? He is welcoming Tinubu as what? Did he build a factory that the President is coming to commission? Over 200 people were killed, and that is just the number of recent killings. The same people who are mourning their loved ones, you are asking them to come out and welcome President Tinubu.

“Even if you, politicians, don’t have consciences or have signed a deal with a foreign company to reduce Nigeria’s population, you must not rub it on the faces of the people. Because it has started to look like that. I missed former Benue State Governor, [Samuel] Ortom.

“He was very vocal about the killings in the state. It got to your turn as governor, and as a Reverend Father, people were expecting you to be unbiased, but you disappointed a lot of people.”