Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has claimed that
the armed herders responsible for recurring attacks across the state are not
Nigerians but foreigners from Mali.
The governor made the assertion during an appearance
on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, where he said linguistic
differences and physical appearance suggest the attackers are not indigenous
Fulani, but foreign elements infiltrating the country.
Benue State has suffered a series of violent attacks
in recent months, with communities in Otukpo, Ado, Logo, and other local
government areas bearing the brunt of the violence. Many of the attacks have
been blamed on armed herders reportedly carrying assault rifles, including
AK-47s.
“We know Nigerians—by our ethnicities, we can identify
a Fulani man, a Yoruba man, a Hausa man—we know them,” Alia said during the
interview. “Even the regular traditional herders, we know them. They work with
cows, herding them with sticks.
“But these folks, the attackers, are coming in fully
armed with AK-47s and 49s. They do not bear the Nigerian look. They don’t speak
like we do. Even the Hausa they speak is not the normal Hausa we Nigerians
understand,” he added.
Alia said the dialects spoken by the assailants
suggest they are from outside Nigeria, with some community members identifying
them as Malian nationals based on their accent and speech patterns.
“They say they are Malians and different from our
people. But they are not Nigerians—believe it,” the governor insisted.
His comments add a new dimension to the ongoing debate
about cross-border incursions and the role of foreign fighters in the
farmer-herder crisis in Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
Governor Alia has consistently called for stronger
federal action to protect rural communities and curb the movement of armed
groups across Nigeria’s porous borders.
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