Hyacinth Alia is the Governor of Benue State. In this interview monitored on Arise Television, he speaks on continued killings by armed herdsmen and the state is under siege and losing ground to them, among other issues, ANAYO EZUGWU writes

Tell us the main substance of the narrative that Benue State is under siege. Can you give us a description? We hear that the governor is the chief security officer of the state. Tell us, what are you doing?

What we are undergoing is purely, as I’ve mentioned, we are under siege. We have 23 local governments in the state. Before I came in, almost all the local governments were under attack by the armed herders. Along the line, since one year, nine months ago, we came in and fought the best we could.

We got the stream down to nine, and the nine were under fire. In Zonzi, we have Apar, Agatu, and of late, Otupu. There’s Ohimini, Borders, and Kogi.

There were some skirmishes from wherever they came, attacked, and then went back. Other terrible frontline attacks we experienced were from Guma, Gwe West, sometimes Gwe East, and then Kwande, Logo, Katsina Ala, and Ukum. But again, we intensified our fight against these insurgencies.

What now happened is we have six that are fully on the front lines, including Katsina Ala, Ukum, Logo, Gwe West, Guma, Apar and Agatu. Now, we all know within the state that it is the armed herders who come in to attack.

Usually, before this time, there were routes these people could walk with their cattle all through Benue State and go down to the south. But then, with the increase in population, there are no spaces anymore. We are agrarian people; we farm. So where they now pass, these are all farmlands, even then they were farmlands.

So, as they are grazing through, we experience a lot of destruction of farmlands, and then even the planted elements we did on the farms, and then the produce on the farms, where foods was even stored on the farms, who are now became so vulnerable and were opened for the cattle to eat. Before that, we had to speak with different categories of people on their ranks and our ranks for these things to come down.

And this is why everything has now fallen to local governments that are on the front line, experiencing, of late. And this is quite directed. What we experience now is very directed. Most of the states were under attack. We had 17 local governments that were under attack.

When we came in the last year, nine months, we fought this in nine local governments, and we are now heavily under attack. As I speak, we have six local governments that are under attack. And these include Apa, Gatu, Logo, Ukum, Katsina Ala, and then Kwande.

What we experience is that the armed headers come in before now; they could just come with their herds. The Fulani would come with their herds, and then to the isolated local governments move through and then do the attacks. The people settle down. What we had was somewhat fewer killings.

What we have as a new face of these attacks is the fact that the people who are attacking us now, plus the armed groups, are not just coming with any herds at all. They don’t come with cows. Rather, they come fully armed with their AK-47 and AK-49.

They come in alone, wear one dress, and they can stay in the bushes as long as they can until they do the attacks, and then they disappear. After a week or two, they come in now, their folks come in now to occupy those spaces.

What we have as a new face of these attacks is the fact that the people who are attacking us now, plus the armed groups, are not just coming with any herds at all. They don’t come with cows

If you go to Katsina Ala local government, in most of the Ukum local government, this is the occupation that is made. If you now come to Gwe West local government, it’s even worse.

Now, here’s the thing. These attacks are deliberate. You move to Zone C now, where I speak about Apa and Agatu. The attacks were also very vehement. Of late, Otupu local government is also included.

What we experienced in Otupu was the kidnapping, and then very large sums of ransom were attached to that and all that. These attacks are very deliberate. These are calculated. They come in, attack, fully with the intent of killing, and then occupy. We are farmers in the state.

What are you doing to end these killings, and also your thoughts on the passing of Pope Francis, and if you can just focus on those issues?

The attacks we have experienced of late are very deliberate and so calculated with the aim just to come, kill, maim, and then to land grab. And here’s what happens. Now, from 17 local governments that were then attacked before we came in, we were able to fight this down to nine.

Again, we sustained our fight, and it’s come down to six local governments that are badly attacked. What we have tried to do is we bought 100 Hilux trucks, and then give them to different security agencies in the state. We also bought 600 motorbikes and distributed them.

We empowered a joint task force, the Oppression Zinda, and then with the joint task force of Oppression Anyamyo. These have been very supportive and quite helpful.

This is why we’ve trimmed this down to six local governments that are badly hit amongst our local governments, now amongst the six. If you move to Gwe West, one of the local governments, there is a very heavy occupation. Okum, the suburbs, she has the same heavy occupation, I think.

We had a very heavy attack in Okum and then Logo. Started with five and then 12, and then it moved on, and as of Saturday morning, Logo local government, we assembled those that were killed in the bushes and mounted them to 27. When I went to Logo, to Okum local government, separately from this 27, we had 29 corpses.

The numbers can still rise because they are just out there in the bushes, trying to see if any dead bodies are left. These are the efforts we’ve put in place, but we need help. We need more hands. We need more help. The federal government has tried its bit as well. They’ve been working with us along these lines.

This is why we have the numbers from 17 down to nine. Now down to six local governments on the front lines. They supplied us with two armoured tanks. It improved the security apparatus within the state. The visit of the NSA, again, brought some reassurance. But what we need now is emergency help for now.

Then the long term can also come. We can’t go to the farm. There’s little more, little less we can do. Our people want to take all this on themselves to defend themselves. While it’s okay, the Constitution permits us to defend ourselves. But how helpful is that for now?

That carnage is mounted on you as a people, and then you are being targeted, and you are not prepared for all this. Granted that in some places in the last 15 years, in some areas in the last 22 years, there have been these occupations bit by bit, and then it became a widespread thing. So asking the people to get out there and defend themselves is not quite wise.

While you say that parts of your state are under siege, the NSA is saying that no part of Nigeria is under occupation by non-state actors. Why do you and the NSA have conflicting situation reports of what is happening in your state?

I’m not sure it is a conflict, but here’s the thing. When you come in, kill with intent to occupy. Where were you before this time? The armed herders, whose face has a second face of these attacks now, because those who have added to the armed herders come with a different face.

They come in, no cartels are accompanying them, but then they are on the front lines, visiting the targeted local government. They come, attack, kill, run back, and then occupation takes place after a few weeks. So this is very deliberate. I think it is an occupation simply because the invaders are coming from somewhere.

They are coming from somewhere. They could have settled from this somewhere. But then, when you come, it’s granted that the constitution permits all Nigerians can do their businesses wherever they find themselves, but it has to be by protocol. You cannot do your business at the detriment of my business.

Each state has got some protocol. So when we know you come in, for you to settle down again, whatever protocol that is in there, you have to be permitted.

Why do you feel that this illegal settlement that you’re referring to is not a concern to the NSA?

Several political actors are trying to take a lot advantage of this. What we experience it’s even more empirical than anything they might be projecting. Anyone who might be saying what they have little or less knowledge of. They’re killing these people. They are killing our people. And this is a fact. And this is a reality.

The second face of the armed herder’s attacks is that those who have combined with the armed herders do not even speak what we understand. And they don’t look like us Nigerians.

So they have combined forces with these people. Why are they coming, just to kill, to drive people out of their land, and then to occupy? And this is a fact. So it is beyond settlement. It is an occupation. And this is a fact.

Who are these political actors who are behind them?

This is where the intelligence should come up with these names. But all we know is, even from within the state, some bad actors are there who try to put a spin on this narrative and the fact of the killings we’re experiencing in the state.

They don’t even come to the fields, but they stay wherever they stay. And then they put a spin on it. And then they have attack dogs out there who now take it to the other side.

And then they feel either we’re lying or we’re not doing anything about the carnage we’re under. So the intelligence has to bring out these names. It would be of very huge help to us as well.

Here in the state, again, what we have done is, there was a very heavy attack in Sankara, Axis, Ukum, Logo, and Katsina Ala, who set up a judicial panel of inquiry. And then they are on these findings.

The second face of the armed herder’s attacks is that those who have combined with the armed herders do not even speak what we understand. And they don’t look like us Nigerians

Once they are about rounding up their work, once they bring this out, we’re going to publish the names of all those attackers of ours. So they cannot be combining forces with the headers and then the second face of the armed headers who now come in just to kill and then to occupy and just to drive we farmers away from this land of ours.

You said some of these attackers don’t look like Nigerians nor speak our languages. Can you give us more insight as to what is informing that position you have, and looking at your position as a governor, do you think a state of emergency should be declared in Benue State?

If this were too much for me to handle, we couldn’t have trimmed it from 17 local governments in the front lines of the attacks to nine and then now to six.

So, which means we can do this, but we need help. And that is a fact. We have several occupations that span up to 15 years, and some 22 years and then some in the last four years. So, and this is where we have faced very squarely to ensure that we calm down everything and peace returns.

What we need is emergency for now on help. We need absolute support. The federal government is supported. They sent two armoured tanks that came in. Our situation has changed. We had a better narrative.

But what we need to do is to get our people back home, to drive out the invaders, the armed herders who have brought in people who do not even speak the Nigerian languages we speak. Let them move back to wherever they came from.

Allow us farmers to go back to our ancestral land and then do our farming. The question of calling for any emergency does not arise here. What should be at play is helping us for the interim we’ve tried.

We need more support to ensure that we push these people back. If you leave this to our folks alone here, what they tell us is that we want all the military and the police to go away.

We would protect ourselves. But if you have carnage, siege, a deliberate attack aimed at killing to occupy, to conquer you, it means for now it is beyond what they are thinking, and then all the occupation would now disperse as well.

There’s been some ethnicization of the conflict in Benue. Do you believe that these herdsmen are Fulani and there’s ethnic conflict in Benue, and we want you to comment on the death of Pope Francis?

I’ve established two points here primarily. One, the armed Fulani herders came in, attacked us. Before now, they could attack, occupy.

Once we moved in to push them out, they left. Now, more warriors have been brought in by those herders who are supporting their attacks. And their simple aim is to come in, kill, conquer, and occupy. When you say Fulani, generally, you come to the land. That is all we know, and that is how it is tagged.

But if you hear my semantics here, the armed Fulani, the terrorists, the murderers, the bandits that are disbalancing us, they’re killing us. So the fact, first fact established, these are armed Fulani who came in. And then they have a very strong support of people who now come without the cattle.

They now, theirs is even worse. They have combined forces with them. Six local governments are on the very hot front lines. The efforts we are putting in are good, but we need even more support.

The way forward would be, let the federal government give us three units of Mopol in these volatile borders we share with Taraba, Nasarawa, and Cameroon. It would be very helpful. It would also place another very long-term solution of a forward oppression base, particularly again in those three areas.

I strongly feel, with the internal support and arrangements we have, we would stem the murderers, the killers, the bandits, the terrorists, and the armed herdsmen away.

Pope Francis is someone who so much believed in the poor masses of the world, who supported them, who became their voice, and who defended them, where other leaders could not get the courage even to speak.

He was brave enough to do this. I learned so much from him. He had a bit of fluidity in ensuring that a good balance took place, where there were only defences. He came out with a human heart and a human blame on himself, and that is very tall.

It is our prayer that God rests him well in heaven, and then the church produces another formidable person who shows concern to the rest of the people, particularly the immigrants and those who are enslaved and then the common masses, those who don’t have a voice for themselves, that a new Pope can also defend and be a voice for them and be a protection for them as well.