David Mark demands action after 25 slaughtered, bus hijacked in Benue, Plateau

In a decisive challenge to the Federal Government, David Mark, the national chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former Senate President, has demanded immediate and military-backed intervention to halt a devastating resurgence of killings and mass kidnappings in Benue and Plateau states.

 

Reacting to the recent slaughter of 25 people across both states and the brazen highway abduction of an entire commercial bus of passengers along the Otukpo–Taraku–Makurdi Road, Mark warned on Monday that the government’s continued inaction is directly emboldening armed militias and plunging Nigeria’s food basket into absolute lawlessness.

 

He stressed that the state is failing its primary constitutional duty to protect its citizens, declaring that the time for routine political assurances has passed and must be replaced by a massive deployment of security forces to dismantle the growing culture of impunity.

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The ADC National Chairman’s urgent intervention, released via a statement by his media aide, Kola Ologbondiyan, follows the separate weekend massacres of 16 individuals in Otukpo, Benue State, and nine others in the Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State.

 

Describing the coordinated assaults as “barbaric” and “reprehensible,” Mark expressed deep alarm over the hijacked Benue Links commercial transit bus, where gunmen intercepted the vehicle and forced all passengers into the bush.

 

He ordered the Armed Forces, the Nigeria Police Force, and the Department of State Services (DSS) to launch immediate search-and-rescue operations for the hostages, while aggressively scaling up intelligence gathering and highway surveillance.

 

While insisting that the ultimate constitutional burden of security rests entirely on the Federal Government, the former Senate President also appealed for a united front, calling on the Benue State Government, traditional rulers, religious leaders, and youth organizations to supply local intelligence to security operatives. The North-Central region has long been trapped in cyclical violence that has claimed hundreds of lives, displaced thousands of farmers, and crippled regional agriculture.

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Extending his condolences to the bereaved families, Mark concluded with a stern warning that no Nigerian community should be abandoned to armed criminals, asserting that the blood of innocent citizens cries out for absolute justice.