Group Accuses Benue Govt of “State Capture of Conscience” Over Postponed Lecture at Mkar Varsity

Our Correspondent

The Ayatutu Self-Determination Organization, ASDOR, has condemned the postponement of Bishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe’s distinguished lecture at the University of Mkar, alleging it amounts to political interference and a breach of university autonomy.

In a press release issued Tuesday, ASDOR described the delay of the 21st Distinguished Public Lecture, titled “Jihadist Violence and the Question of Identity in the Middle Belt: Rethinking Christian Persecution in Nigeria,” as “a political and moral rupture” rather than an administrative decision. The lecture was scheduled for July 26, 2026.

ASDOR said the lecture aimed to address what it called a “geography of grief” across the Middle Belt, citing communities in Benue, Southern Kaduna, Plateau, Southern Borno, Kebbi, and Taraba.

The group rejected characterizations of the violence as “skirmishes,” insisting it reflects “organized violence, territorial displacement, and ideological conquest.”

“To name organized violence as ‘skirmishes’ is to commit epistemic violence; it erases victims, distorts causality, and licenses impunity,” ASDOR stated.

“Truth demands precision: what is occurring is not a quarrel over land, but a sustained Jihadist campaign of violence and occupation.”

The statement named three actors linked to the postponement, including NKST Church, University of Mkar management and Governing Council, and Commoti-U-Sonodi under the Benue State Government.

ASDOR said NKST, as proprietor of the university and a direct victim of attacks, failed in its duty to “defend the lectern” by not insisting the lecture be heard.

It described the university VC, Prof. Zacharys Anger Gundu, and Governing Council Chair, Rt. Hon. Dr. Gabriel Torwua Suswam, as having “records of intellectual firmness,” but accused their silence of amounting to complicity.

The group asserted that the postponement was “instrumented by the Governor through Commôti-U-Sonodi (CUS),” alleging a trade of “conscience for patronage” and a pattern of controlling public discourse.

ASDOR argued the move violates the Universities Miscellaneous Provisions Act and the principle of “intellectual charity,” which requires engaging ideas on merit.

It warned that halting a lecture already approved by the Senate and Council amounts to “retroactive censorship.”

“If Mkar’s lectern can be controlled by political power, no Nigerian university is safe,” the group said, adding that universities must remain “guardians of free intelligence against dogma.”

The organization called for immediate reinstatement and rescheduling of the lecture without political conditions.

It called on NKST to lead the defence of academic freedom and security of life and property, as well as the University Senate and Council to decide academic matters free from pressure.

It further called for an end to all political pressure on the University of Mkar’s governing bodies.

“Truth delayed is not truth destroyed,” ASDOR concluded, quoting Bishop Anagbe: “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

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