Imagine travelling to console grieving families and getting stopped on the highway by a crowd chanting your name. That is exactly what happened to Peter Obi in Benue this week, and now Rabiu Kwankwaso is not holding back.

So what really happened? According to cbinews.tv, Peter Obi was on his way to Benue to commiserate with victims of the recent killings in the state when his convoy was stopped on Gboko Road in Makurdi, right near the Nigerian Air Force Base and Makurdi Airport. Videos circulating online showed protesters barricading the road for hours, chanting We do not want Peter Obi.

Obi himself spoke at the scene and said the blockade was on the orders of a government aide. He described it as unacceptable and accused whoever mobilised the crowd of exploiting hungry and insecure young people for politics.

Now Kwankwaso has weighed in, and he did not mince words.

The former Governor of Kano State, who flew the flag for the New Nigeria Peoples Party in the 2023 presidential election where he polled about 1.4 million votes mostly from Kano, took to his official X handle on Tuesday to condemn the incident. He called the alleged mobilisation to block Obi and stop him from entering Makurdi a dark day for our democracy.

In his post, Kwankwaso said authorities must remember that the Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to freedom of movement under Section 41, and that this right applies even more strongly to Obi, who is a former governor and a leading opposition figure. He urged the Benue State Government to guarantee the safety and free movement of Obi and his entourage.

He also sent a message to Aso Rock, urging the President to caution state governors, particularly those in his own party, against actions that could undermine the sanctity of democracy. He also called on the international community, diplomatic missions and election observation groups to take note and to encourage Nigerian authorities to uphold the rule of law and protect opposition leaders.

This is not happening in a vacuum. Benue has been one of the worst-hit states in Nigeria’s farmer-herder crisis. Data from local monitors and media reports suggest hundreds of lives were lost in the state in 2023 and 2024 alone, which is why visits by high-profile figures like Obi often carry huge political weight.

There is also history between the two men. Both Kwankwaso and Obi were presidential candidates in 2023 against Bola Tinubu. While there were talks of an alliance before the election, both went their separate ways, with Obi pulling over six million votes for the Labour Party and Kwankwaso dominating Kano. So for Kwankwaso to publicly defend Obi now, many see it as a rare moment of opposition solidarity and a reminder that 2027 politicking has already started.

Blocking an opposition figure from entering a state capital is a serious allegation in any democracy. In the past, similar incidents were recorded in the build-up to the 2019 and 2023 polls, and they usually drew condemnation from civil society groups who warned that such tactics shrink civic space.

At the time of filing this report for cbinews.tv, the Benue State Government had not issued a detailed official response to Kwankwaso’s demand for prosecution of those responsible.

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