{"id":167007,"date":"2025-06-15T18:44:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T17:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre"},"modified":"2025-06-15T20:27:29","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T19:27:29","slug":"this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre","title":{"rendered":"\u2018This is national tragedy\u2019 \u2014 Atiku reacts to Benue massacre"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the recent mass killings in Benue State, describing the attacks that reportedly left over 200 people dead as \u201csenseless\u201d and a stark reminder of Nigeria\u2019s deepening insecurity crisis.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement issued on Sunday, Atiku expressed profound sorrow over the bloodshed, which occurred during coordinated assaults on rural communities in the state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis assault on innocent Nigerians is not just a local tragedy; it is a national emergency that requires urgent, decisive action,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He urged both the Federal Government and the Benue State Government to initiate a thorough and transparent investigation into the attacks, ensure the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators, and intensify security measures to prevent further violence.<\/p>\n<p>The former Vice President also emphasised the need for the deployment of well-equipped security personnel, improved intelligence gathering, and proactive community protection, especially in vulnerable rural areas.<\/p>\n<p>He advocated for immediate humanitarian support for survivors, including medical aid, trauma counselling, and help rebuilding livelihoods.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy thoughts and prayers are with the grieving families and communities. No words can capture the depth of pain experienced by those who have lost loved ones, homes, and peace of mind,\u201d Atiku said.<\/p>\n<p>He called on Nigerians to rise above ethnic and religious divisions and collectively demand accountability and sustainable peace.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet us stand together as a nation in condemning these atrocities. May God console the bereaved, heal our wounded land, and restore peace to our communities,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the recent mass killings in Benue State, describing the attacks that reportedly left over 200 people dead as \u201csenseless\u201d and a stark reminder of Nigeria\u2019s deepening insecurity crisis. In a statement issued on Sunday, Atiku expressed profound sorrow over the bloodshed, which occurred during coordinated [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":167006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[316,331,254],"class_list":["post-167007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-atiku","tag-benue","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018This is national tragedy\u2019 \u2014 Atiku reacts to Benue massacre - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the recent mass killings in Benue State, describing the attacks that ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018This is national tragedy\u2019 \u2014 Atiku reacts to Benue massacre\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the recent mass killings in Benue State, describing the attacks that ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-15T17:44:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-15T19:27:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/sm_1750003087.648844.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018This is national tragedy\u2019 \u2014 Atiku reacts to Benue massacre\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-15T17:44:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-15T19:27:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre\"},\"wordCount\":264,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/sm_1750003087.648844.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Atiku\",\"Benue\",\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre\",\"name\":\"\u2018This is national tragedy\u2019 \u2014 Atiku reacts to Benue massacre - Nigeria\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/sm_1750003087.648844.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-15T17:44:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-15T19:27:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the recent mass killings in Benue State, describing the attacks that ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/sm_1750003087.648844.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/sm_1750003087.648844.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"\u2018This is national tragedy\u2019 \u2014 Atiku reacts to Benue massacre\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018This is national tragedy\u2019 \u2014 Atiku reacts to Benue massacre\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\",\"name\":\"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018This is national tragedy\u2019 \u2014 Atiku reacts to Benue massacre - Nigeria","description":"Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the recent mass killings in Benue State, describing the attacks that ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018This is national tragedy\u2019 \u2014 Atiku reacts to Benue massacre","og_description":"Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the recent mass killings in Benue State, describing the attacks that ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre","og_site_name":"Nigeria","article_published_time":"2025-06-15T17:44:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-15T19:27:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/sm_1750003087.648844.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"\u2018This is national tragedy\u2019 \u2014 Atiku reacts to Benue massacre","datePublished":"2025-06-15T17:44:10+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-15T19:27:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre"},"wordCount":264,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/sm_1750003087.648844.jpg","keywords":["Atiku","Benue","Nigeria"],"articleSection":["all news","Policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre","name":"\u2018This is national tragedy\u2019 \u2014 Atiku reacts to Benue massacre - Nigeria","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/sm_1750003087.648844.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-15T17:44:10+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-15T19:27:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the recent mass killings in Benue State, describing the attacks that ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/sm_1750003087.648844.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/sm_1750003087.648844.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"\u2018This is national tragedy\u2019 \u2014 Atiku reacts to Benue massacre"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/this-is-national-tragedy-atiku-reacts-to-benue-massacre#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018This is national tragedy\u2019 \u2014 Atiku reacts to Benue massacre"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/","name":"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}