Hyacinth Alia, governor of Benue, says bandits and
terrorists wreaking havoc in the state have adopted guerrilla-style tactics
that make them increasingly difficult to track and apprehend.
Alia spoke on Focus Nigeria, a programme on African
Independent Television (AIT), on Tuesday, while addressing the recurring
violence and killings in parts of the state.
He said the security challenge has become more complex, as
attackers now hit and retreat without a trace.
“We’re talking about the bandits and the terrorists who have
come to a very mystifying frame of guerrilla warfare. They come, hit, and go
back. So we cannot identify them,” he said.
The governor said the support of the federal government,
particularly in intelligence gathering, is helping the state make progress in
tracking down the perpetrators.
“With the federal government’s continued support now through
intelligence finding and searching, I think, we are going to do even some
more,” he said.
“We will identify those people, apprehend them, and create a
new narrative for our three local governments and, in fact, the state.”
Alia also linked the worsening insecurity to the internal
crisis within the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying
the party has not been working in unity.
“There is another layer to the challenges we have in the
state here. The non-cooperation of some so-called major stakeholders, the
disunity and disharmony within the ruling APC camp in the state, is quite
unfortunate,” he said.
“There are some people who have been disgruntled and are yet
to get back into the fold.”
He said President Bola Tinubu has advised APC leaders in the
state to resolve their differences for the sake of peace and development.
Alia described Tinubu’s call as timely, especially in light
of the long-standing conflict between farmers and herders in Benue.
On Monday, the North Central Peace Advocates described the
rising wave of violence in Benue as a “politically motivated campaign of
terror”, insisting that the perpetrators are not herders but “foreign-backed
terrorists”.
In a statement, Frank Utor, coordinator of the group, said
hundreds have been killed and entire communities displaced in “a systematic
effort to destabilise Benue and other parts of the north-central”.
“The killings in Benue are not herder-farmer clashes. That
narrative is false and dangerously misleading,” Utor said.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com