Benue State Attackers Are Foreign Fighters – Gov Alia Insists

Benue State Governor, Rev Fr. Hyacinth Alia has said that the marauding terrorists wrecking havoc across the Stage are not the Nigerian Fulani herders, but Malian militants.

Alia, who stated this when he featured on Channels Television programme; ‘Politics Today’, pointedly said that the attackers who are using sophisticated weapons, do not speak the Nigerian Hausa and Fulani language.

In the words of Alia; “These attackers, use sophisticated weapons like AK-47s and AK-49s, and do not resemble the traditional Fulani herders that Nigerians are familiar with.
“These people speak differently and they look different, move differently, and kill differently. Our local herders herd cows with sticks. These ones come with assault rifles,” he noted.
The Governor said that the State has witnessed repeated bloodshed in local government areas such as Otukpo, Ado, and Logo, stressing that the violence is no longer a national crisis, but an international breach.
He further said; “We are being invaded, not by our neighbours, but by armed foreigners. They are not Nigerians, believe it.”

Alia said that the dimension and sophistication of the attacks by the marauding foreign militants is far beyond what the State can conveniently tackle without the involvement of the Federal Government, adding that the attackers kill with reckless and senseless abandon.
The Benue State Governor’s comments have sparked debate over national security, border patrol, and the increasing militarization of herder-related conflicts.