Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has expressed strong optimism that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s intervention in the escalating security crisis will mark a turning point in the state’s battle against violent attacks by armed herders.
Speaking in the wake of President Tinubu’s recent visit and directives to security agencies, Governor Alia described the attacks as deliberate and targeted attempts to uproot indigenous people from their ancestral homes.
“These attacks on the peace-loving people of Benue are not just random acts of violence—they are targeted efforts aimed at alienating us from our ancestral lands,” Alia stated during a stakeholder briefing.
He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to restoring peace and ensuring the safe return of displaced residents to their communities.
“We will keep working to ensure that our people are not only safe but return to their ancestral land,” the governor pledged.
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President Tinubu, who visited Benue on Wednesday to commiserate with victims and hold talks with stakeholders, had earlier directed security agencies to take immediate and decisive action to secure the state. The order followed a series of deadly attacks in Yelwata and surrounding communities that left scores dead and thousands displaced.
The President also appealed to political leaders and traditional rulers in the state to unite across party lines to find a sustainable solution to the herder-farmer conflict that has plagued the region for years.