KEY POINTS

• Benue State Government attributes recent violent attacks in the Ukum and Logo areas to organized criminals seeking to seize land, not to farmer-herder conflicts.

• The attackers, described as terrorists by the government, arrived armed with AK-47 rifles and used motorcycles to carry out their attacks on farms, markets, and worship centers.

• With the death toll rising to 72, the government emphasizes the need for accurate reporting of these events and calls for national support to combat the violence.

The Benue State Government has condemned the recent spate of violent attacks on communities in the state, attributing them to terrorists who have a clear agenda to seize land from the victims.

According to Tersoo Kula, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia, the attackers, whom he described as terrorists, arrived in large numbers, armed with AK-47 rifles, and used motorcycles to invade the Ukum and Logo local government areas.

Speaking during a broadcast on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, Kula emphasized that these perpetrators are not merely engaging in typical farmer-herder conflicts but are instead deliberately attacking and displacing residents from their ancestral homes.

He stated, “What is happening in Benue State is rather unfortunate… Some people have decided to organize themselves and plan criminal attacks on the state. From what we are seeing, they come with the intent to grab land.”

Latest wave of violence in Benue

The latest wave of violence, which has claimed the lives of at least 72 people, is reported to have been carried out by heavily armed attackers who arrived from a neighboring state.

These attackers targeted farms, markets, and even places of worship, further exacerbating the situation. Kula made it clear that calling these violent acts “farmer-herder clashes” is misleading and undermines the severity of the situation. He argued, “When someone is in their house or on their farm and is attacked without warning, that is not a clash. As long as we keep misrepresenting these attacks as clashes, people will continue to misunderstand what is truly happening in Benue State.”

As the situation continues to worsen, the Benue State Government has called for national and regional support to address the escalating violence and prevent further bloodshed.

The state’s response includes heightened security efforts to safeguard the affected communities and restore order.

While the investigation into the motives of the attackers continues, the government is focusing on the need to correct the narrative surrounding these attacks to ensure that the true nature of the violence is fully understood.