Benue Killings Carried Out by Armed Herders Without Cattle – Gov. Alia

Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has stated that the recent wave of deadly attacks in the state was carried out by heavily armed herders who entered the region without any cattle.

The violence, which erupted on June 14 in the Yelewata and Daudu communities of Guma Local Government Area, initially claimed over 100 lives. 

By Sunday, the death toll had reportedly climbed to around 200, triggering widespread condemnation across Nigeria.

He stated this during an interview on Channels Television on Monday.

“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-47s and AK-49s.

“What are their aims? They don’t even come with cows. They attack and 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.”

Source: Vanguard