We’re Under Siege, Terrorism Is Eating Up Benue – Governor Alia Laments

Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, has lamented that the state is currently under siege by terrorists and armed bandits.

Alia said that the recent attacks that have claimed several lives is beyond herders-farmers clash.

Recall that there has been a surge in attacks in the state in recent weeks, with several local government areas experiencing violent onslaughts that have claimed numerous lives.

The governor, who made this declaration on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, said that the attacks are well planned and executed by terrorists. “We are under siege.

The way these attacks come and the intel we receive, it is a directed calibrated plan and then executed.

“On a daily basis we are receiving those intel. Of late, each of those intel we receive, 60 to 65 per cent of it is quite accurate.

“And then when you realise what is going on, it is beyond just conflict, it is beyond just an ethnic fight between herders and farmers in our state, it is directed, it is planned and then it is executed, it is some terrorism,” he said.

The Catholic priest-turned politician insisted that he no longer views the attacks as a clash between farmers and herders, stating that they now involve specialized killers—terrorists who engage in a form of guerrilla warfare.

He said that for some reason, none of the killers was ever caught, adding that they come in the thick of the night, hit, run and nobody sees a trace.

Recall that several persons were on Friday evening feared dead and many others injured after suspected armed herdsmen launched a fresh attack on the Makurdi–Naka road.