Benue pupils stand in rain to welcome Tinubu

Widespread outrage has erupted across Nigeria following the circulation of videos showing school children standing in the rain to welcome President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during his visit to Benue State.

The footage, which has gone viral on social media, shows young pupils lined up by the roadside in Makurdi, singing the national anthem as President Tinubu’s convoy passed.

Their faces were deliberately blurred for privacy, but the conditions in which they stood—soaked and shivering in the rain—have triggered strong criticism.

President Tinubu arrived in Benue on Wednesday, days after a brutal attack in Yelewata, Guma Local Government Area, where over 100 people were reportedly killed.

The attack is the latest in a series of violent incidents that have plagued the state. According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the violence has displaced more than 6,500 residents.

Despite the Benue State Government declaring a public holiday to “honour” the president’s visit, pupils were made to line up in the rain—an act many Nigerians have condemned as deeply inappropriate and exploitative.

Reacting to the incident, Yemi Adamolekun, Executive Director of Enough is Enough (EiE) Nigeria, called it a “crime,” questioning the absence of intervention from local religious and human rights institutions.

“This is a crime!!!! Is there no one in Benue that can go and get those children? A Bishop; an Imam? Parents? National Human Rights Commission??? What is wrong with us??” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Other Nigerians also expressed their anger. One user, Joseph Anyaa, described the event as evidence of a “slavery system of government,” adding, “I’ve never seen a government this useless.”

Another user, known as Latent, called the display “political wickedness.”

The incident has reignited conversations about the treatment of children in political events and the broader implications of using state resources and school pupils for ceremonial optics amid ongoing security and humanitarian crises.