The Tor Tiv and Chairman of the Benue State Council of Chiefs, His Royal Majesty Prof. James Ayatse, has raised alarm over the deadly attacks in Benue State, telling President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that the violence is not the result of farmer-herder clashes but a deliberate campaign of land grabbing and genocide.
Speaking on Wednesday during a stakeholders’ meeting with President Tinubu in Makurdi, the traditional ruler dismissed reports suggesting that the killings were caused by communal disagreements or local disputes between farmers and herders.
“We do have grave concerns about the misinformation and misrepresentation of the security crisis in Benue State,” the Tor Tiv told President Tinubu.
“Your Excellency, it is not herder-farmer clashes. It is not communal clashes, it is not reprisal attacks or skirmishes,” he stated emphatically.
The Tor Tiv warned that continuous misrepresentation of the true cause of the crisis was fueling wrong solutions and failed interventions from government and security agencies.
“It is this misinformation that has led to suggestions such as ‘remain tolerant, negotiate for peace, learn to live with your neighbours’,” Ayatse said. “What we are dealing with here in Benue is a calculated, well-planned, full-scale genocidal invasion and land-grabbing campaign by herder terrorists and bandits, which has been going on for decades and is worsening every year.”
He added that without recognising the conflict for what it truly is, government efforts to bring peace and security to the state would continue to fall short.
“Wrong diagnosis will always lead to wrong treatment. So, we are dealing with something far more sinister than we think about,” he warned. “It is not about learning to live with your neighbours; it is about defending against war.”
