Governor Exposes Those Behind Benue Massacre

Hyacinth Alia, governor of Benue, says armed herders who enter the state without cattle are responsible for the recent wave of violent attacks.

On June 14, over 100 people were killed in attacks by suspected herdsmen in Yelewata and Daudu communities, in Guma LGA of Benue state.

The death toll from the massacre had reportedly risen to 200 by Sunday.

The Benue killings have sparked nationwide outrage.

Speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Monday, Alia said the herders come into the state with AK-47s and AK-49s.

The Benue governor said after the herders carry out murders and destroy communities, new groups of people often move into affected areas.

He said the borders pose a challenge to his state, as many of the assailants throng Benue from neighbouring Nasarawa.
Alia added that some of the aggressors arrive through the Cameroon border, adding that some are not Nigerians.

“Last year, people had gone back home and engaged in farming activities with bountiful produce,” he said.

“But this farming season again, we started experiencing the phase of the new attacks.

“The phase of the new attacks comes this way. Before now, we were talking about the farmers/herders crisis, now it has graduated from there, it has become the question of herders coming in and the armed men were among them.

“We tagged them the armed herdsmen. What we experience, generally, is that the herd are not being brought in but those who are in the frontline fighting out here are only carrying AK-47 and AK-49.

“What are their aims? They don’t even come with cows. They attack, kill, and after one week, a number of people now come back to occupy.

“What we understand on the ground is a simple equation. A thief will not just come to a community unless there is someone within the community who leads the thief to your house or the community.

“What we have now is that, strangely, it is the fact that the herders had a crisis, the armed herders hijacked it and now the bandits, and terrorists have come in completely.

“That is the situation on the ground.”