Governor of Benue, Hyacinth Alia, has alleged that those responsible for the recent wave of violent attacks are armed herders who enter the state without cattle.
He stated this on Monday during an appearance on Channels Television, following an attack by armed invaders on Yelwata community in Guma Local Government Area of the State.
Daily Trust had reported how no fewer than 100 people were killed during the attack.
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Subsequently, the youth of Yelwata blocked the Lafia-Makurdi highway, protesting the killings.
The protest continued Sunday morning in the capital city of Makurdi with police firing teargas to disperse the protesters.
When questioned about the identity of the assailants, Governor Alia emphasised the importance of understanding the true nature of the threat.
Alia said the herders come into the state with AK-47s and AK-49s.
The Benue governor said after the attackers carry out murders and destroy communities, new groups of people often move into affected areas.
He said: “Last year, people had gone back home and engaged in farming activities with bountiful produce.
“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.”
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