Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has said foreigners are among the herders that invade Benue communities to kill and destroy people’s properties.
According to Governor Alia, the main goal of the killer herders is to seize and occupy some communities after killing the residents of the area.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Wednesday, the governor disclosed that the security situation of the state recently worsened because some foreign killer herders have invaded many communities to join forces with Nigerian herders to kill residents and drive them out of their homes.
“The second phase of the armed herder attacks is that those who have combine with the armed herders do not even speak what we understand, and they don’t look like us Nigerians. So, they have combined forces with these people, why are they coming? it’s just to kill, maim, drive people out of their land and then to occupy,” he said.
Lately, there has been a rise in the spate of armed herders attacks in Benue and Plateau State, but according to Governor Alia, the armed herders no longer move around with their cattle.
The governor explained that armed herders hide in the bush and, after wreaking havoc in communities, return to the areas to establish settlements.
“The attacks we have experienced of late are very deliberate and so calculated with the aim to come, kill, maim and then landgrab, Governor Alia said.
The governor also called on the Federal Government to support his administration to end banditry and killings in his state, adding that some political actors are trying to take advantage of the security situation.
Governor Alia also rejected the call for a state of emergency in Benue, stressing that the idea of an emergency has no place in his state.
