Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, has dismissed claims that any form of genocide is happening in the state. He said insecurity remains an issue but should not be described as the targeted killing of any group.
Speaking at an event organised by the National Human Rights Commission in Abuja., the governor, who is also a Catholic priest, said his stand is guided by truth and his calling.
He said, “I am a Reverend Father, so being in governance does not take that away from me. I am still a Reverend Father. I came in as a governor as a Reverend Father. I am working with the fear of God and the compassion of Christianity and humanity, and at the end of the day, I am still going back to the church as a Reverend Father and a Christian.”
Addressing the claims, Alia said Benue is not witnessing any religious, ethnic, racial, national, or state genocide.
He added, “In my state of Benue, we do not have any religious, ethnic, racial, national, or state genocide. We don’t have that. Do we have a number of insecurities in the state? Yes, we do, but it is not a genocide.”
He gave the clarification at a consultative forum on the rights of Internally Displaced Persons and Forcibly Displaced Persons, organised by the National Human Rights Commission in Abuja.
Alia said recent statements describing the situation as genocide do not match recognised global definitions.
While admitting that many communities in Benue have suffered serious attacks over the years, he said the incidents still do not meet the standard for genocide under United Nations rules.
He said, “Do we have insecurity in the state? Yes, we do. But it is not a genocide. One would need to go through the United Nations definitions for this.”
The governor explained that most of the tensions grew from long-standing clashes between agro-pastoralists and crop farmers. According to him, the crisis started small but became worse over time, yet still does not fall under genocide.
He said, “Have we lost people? Yes, at different stages. I’m giving a background of the challenges we’ve had for many years — talking about agro-pastoralists and typical farmers. It began like a minor issue and then grew to huge proportions. But that does not fit the parameters of a genocide.”
He urged stakeholders not to mislabel the security situation, saying it could turn a serious issue into a political tool.
He said, “For those who seek to politicise everything, there is no genocide in Benue State. But we do have security challenges.”
Benue remains one of the states with a high number of displaced persons, following years of clashes in rural communities.
