Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, has claimed that the perpetrators of the recent wave of killings across the state are not Nigerians, stating that they speak unfamiliar languages and exhibit foreign characteristics.
Governor Alia disclosed this on Tuesday while on Channels TV programme in the wake of recent killings in the state that have left scores dead and many displaced.
When asked about the identity of the attackers terrorising communities in the state, the governor said it was important to first clarify the nature of the threat.
“Let’s have the narrative very correct. We know Nigerians—by our ethnicities, we can identify a Fulani man, a Yoruba man, a Hausa man—we know them. Even the regular traditional herders, we know them. They work with cows, herding with sticks,” Alia said.
“But these folks [the attackers] are coming in fully armed with AK-47s and 49s. They do not bear the Nigerian look. They don’t speak like we do. Even the Hausa they speak is one sort of Hausa. ”
According to the governor, intelligence from locals suggests the attackers may be foreign nationals.
“It’s not the normal Hausa we Nigerians speak. So it is with the Fulani they speak. There is a trend in the language they speak, and some of our people who understand what they speak give it names. They say they are Malians and different from our people. But they are not Nigerians—believe it,” he added.
Governor Alia explained that this marked a new and more dangerous phase of violence compared to previous confrontations with traditional herders.
“This is the second phase we are seeing. The initial ones were with the traditional herders. The traditional herders—we had fewer troubles with them. What we are experiencing has a new, different, strange face, and it’s now alarming,” the governor said.
“These terrorists are everywhere. We are under a siege. These people just come and hit and kill and run back. Where are they running to?”
He further revealed that the attacks appear highly coordinated and strategically executed.
“The way these killings are being planned and carried out is definitely coordinated,” he noted. “Some local government areas in Benue share borders with Cameroon, and those borders are quite porous.”
The governor also said intelligence reports point to the existence of terrorist hideouts in parts of Taraba and Nasarawa states, as well as in areas within Cameroon.
“The terrorists have their own havens in Taraba, Nasarawa, and in border regions of Cameroon,” Alia stated.
The remarks come amid growing concern over a spate of attacks across Benue and Plateau States that have claimed dozens of lives, displaced entire communities, and deepened the security crisis in Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
