‘Retract Your Statement, Issue Public Apology Or Face Legal Action’, Gov Sule To Benue Varsity’s VC

Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has issued a formal demand to the Vice Chancellor of the University of Mkar, Gboko, Benue State, Professor Zacharys Gundu, over what he described as “false and defamatory” allegations linking him to the worsening insecurity in parts of the Middle Belt.

In a letter dated July 22, 2025, and signed by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Dr. Ahmed Raji, on behalf of the governor, Professor Gundu was asked to retract the statements he allegedly made on national television and issue a public apology, or face legal action.

The statements in question were said to be made during a recent town hall programme aired on News Central Television, where Professor Gundu alleged that Governor Sule, like his predecessor, was “masking the problem” of violent attacks linked to herdsmen in the region.

He further claimed that the governor was “giving haven” and “allocating lands” to those responsible for the violence.

Quoting the VC’s remarks, the letter sighted by The Guardian referenced the following statement: “The issue of Nasarawa State has come up, and we know that even during Al-Makura’s time, Fulanis were coming there and attacking Benue State, and Al-Makura would call them international hunters… Even today, the Governor of Nasarawa State, Sule, is also masking the problem… It is people like Sule who are giving them haven, who are giving them refuge, who are getting the lands of his own citizens and giving it to these people.”