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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has called for a non-violent campaign ahead of the 2027 general elections, calling on young Nigerians to avoid being used as tools by the ruling class that has created the poor economic conditions they now live in.
Obi made the call while addressing Journalists in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, shortly after youths suspected to be loyalists of one of the political parties mounted road blocks on the two-lane Makurdi-Gboko federal highway, preventing him from passing through to Yelewata where he was billed to meet and commiserate with victims of the June 2025 attacks.
The NDC presidential candidate arrived at the Makurdi airport located at the Tactical Air Command Makurdi as early as 8.00 am on Tuesday, welcomed and received by the governorship candidate of NDC, Professor Terhemba Shija, along with party officials amid jubilation and cultural dance performance.
However, trouble started a few meters away from the airport when his convoy ran into a full roadblock on the two-lane Makurdi-Gboko federal highway by the angry youths.
The blockade led to traffic congestion as the road was closed to all users while the police did little to disperse the youths from the highway.
Reacting to the development, Obi cautioned youths against yielding themselves as instruments of violence by the very elite who created the poor conditions they now suffer.
“It is ridiculous. Our experience this morning is very very worrisome. We arrived Makurdi at 9 AM, but on our way to the Yelewata community, to console and show solidarity with the family affected by the killings of over 270 persons in that community, and support them in any way I can, only to be blocked by thugs shouting, ‘Peter Obi go back!. Peter Obi go back!’
“And I was wondering: are we still in Nigeria? Because, even the campaign I have started, I should be able to move around freely. But we didn’t want to go on and cause confusion and possibly endanger the lives of other people, so I decided to remain as civil as possible.
“I am using this occasion to appeal to the security agencies, the IG of police, and other agencies, to please intervene and be able to call various state governors to order. I was a state governor myself. This rascality cannot be allowed. We are a country, and can we confront these people on our own if these people cannot provide us with security?
“We can not go on this way. This is unacceptable”, Obi lamented.
The development followed a similar move last year, when the Benue State government barred Obi from visiting internally displaced persons in the state without express approval.
