Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, has stated that the insecurity challenges facing the state should not be classified as genocide.
He made the clarification at a consultative forum on protecting the rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Forcibly Displaced Persons (FDPs), organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Abuja.
Governor Alia, a Catholic priest, described recent claims of genocide in the state as inaccurate and inconsistent with internationally recognised definitions.
“I am a Reverend Father, so being in governance does not take that away from me. In my state of Benue, we do not have any religious, ethnic, racial, national, or state genocide. We do not have that,” he said.
While noting that communities in Benue have experienced significant security incidents over the years, he emphasised that these incidents do not meet the criteria for genocide as defined by the United Nations.
“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,” he explained.
The governor traced the long-running tensions in the state to conflicts between agro-pastoralists and crop farmers. According to him, the situation escalated gradually over many years but should not be labelled as genocide.
“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 said.
He urged stakeholders to avoid mischaracterising the situation, noting that exaggerations risk politicising a serious security matter.
“For those who seek to politicise everything, there is no genocide in Benue State. But we do have security challenges,” Governor Alia stated.
The U.S. government had previously listed Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern. President Donald Trump also expressed worry about reports of attacks on Christian communities in the country.
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