Benue is under siege; Abuja politicians sponsoring killings

Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has lamented that the North-Central state is under siege from terrorists and bandits following the recent wave of killings.

Benue recently experienced an uptick in violent attacks as several local governments witnessed onslaughts that have resulted in the death of hundreds of residents.

According to the Governor, the recent attacks that have claimed several lives have gone beyond the herders-farmers clash.

“We are under siege,” Alia exclaimed while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, June 6, 2025.

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He asserted that the attacks are well-planned and executed by terrorists.

“The way these attacks come and the intel we receive, it is a directed calibrated plan and then executed.”

“On a daily basis, we are receiving that intel. Of late, each of those intel we receive, 60 to 65 per cent of it is quite accurate.

“And then when you realise what is going on, it is beyond just conflict, it is beyond just an ethnic fight between herders and farmers in our state, it is directed, it is planned and then it is executed, it is some terrorism.”

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The Governor stressed that the pattern of the attacks convinced him that the violence is no longer a farmers-herders clash, noting that they now involve specialised killers, terrorists who deploy guerrilla warfare tactics.

“For some reason, none of them is ever caught, they come in in the thick of the night, hit, run and nobody sees a trace. So, it is some terrorism that is eating us up,” he remarked.

Alia also alleged that some serving politicians in the National Assembly are sponsoring the attacks in Benue State, describing the situation as unacceptable.

While maintaining silence on the name of the accused politicians, he cited an interim report of a judicial commission he set up, which indicted many big names and vowed to take up the matter as soon as he receives the full report next week.

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“We set up a judicial panel to sort out for us why we kept having attacks from within and from without, and we have received an interim report. Between Tuesday and Wednesday next week, I am going to get a full report from the panel.

“It is very unsettling because some politicians who are very functional and are in the national assembly and are in Abuja are the architects and arrowheads of not just instigating but harbouring and keeping these people, keeping them in the bushes and taking care of all their bills and buying all the gadgets for them.

“This is extremely unacceptable. If they do not like the lives of the people and are fighting for their political position, I think I am serving the interest of the common masses, and it is my right to protect them.

“So, once we receive this report the coming week, we are going to take it up and take it seriously.”