A former Governor of Bayelsa State and lawmaker representing Bayelsa West, Senator Seriake Dickson, has criticised President Bola Tinubu for visiting Benue State days after the tragedy that befell Yelewata, a community in the state where about 200 people were killed in an overnight raid.

Tinubu visited Yelewata five days after the heart-wrenching incident that also left thousands displaced.

The Guardian had earlier reported that Nigerians had berated Tinubu for issuing a statement condemning the attack about 48 hours after the incident.

Following this, he announced he would visit the community to commiserate with the victims of the attack. He visited Makurdi, the capital of Benue State, on Wednesday.

While speaking with Arise TV on Thursday, Seriake opined that Tinubu ought to have visited Benue earlier than Wednesday.

“While it’s commendable that President Tinubu visited Benue State, albeit he could have gone earlier than he did, the decisions taken and declarations made were not as forceful as some would have wanted,” said Seriake.

Speaking on the recent spate of killings and crisis across the country, Dickson said that Nigeria is not prepared for the tactics deployed by terrorists and bandits.

“The Nigerian state appears unprepared for the sort of violence that people are unleashing on fellow Nigerians. You just said the Chief of Defence Staff said that there are foreign elements coming in.

“These are not just criminals. These are mercenaries, commando units of foreign armies trained elsewhere and so on. They are well equipped, well armed, well prepared tactically, and our system is completely unprepared for that,” he added.