Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia has refuted claims suggesting that any form of genocide is occurring within the state, insisting that while insecurity remains a challenge, it should not be misrepresented as the targeted extermination of any group.
At a public function on Wednesday, the governor, who is a Catholic priest, stressed that his commitment to truth is rooted in his calling and moral duty.
He said: ‘I am a Reverend Father, so being in governance does not take that away from me. I am still a Reverend Father. I came in as a governor as a Reverend Father. I am working with the fear of God and the compassion of Christianity and humanity, and at the end of the day, I am still going back to the church as a Reverend Father and a Christian’.
Addressing the claims directly, Alia maintained that his state is not witnessing any form of religious, ethnic, racial, national, or state genocide.
He added: ‘In my state of Benue, we do not have any religious, ethnic, racial, national, or state genocide. We don’t have that. Do we have a number of insecurities in the state? Yes, we do, but it is not a genocide’.
The United States had claimed that there had been Christian genocide in Nigeria. President Donald Trump also declared Nigeria as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’, threatening action against alleged killings of Christians.
But the Federal Government insisted that the killings in the country has no ethnic or religious colouration. The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mallam Mohammed Idris recently said that Trump’s conclusions about the country is based on a ‘wrong perception and misrepresentation of the security challenges in our country. The Federal Government has always recognised the security challenges that had beset our country since 2009 with the advent of Boko Haram terrorists’.
Idris said that, contrary to the American leader’s position, Nigeria’s longstanding security challenges have ‘impacted Christians and Muslims alike, and we mourn every loss of life — knowing that even a single loss of life is one too many.
‘It is important to restate that the menace of terrorism in Nigeria does not exclusively target any religious or ethnic group. As in many parts of the world, extremism is mindless, blind to religion, tribe, or class. It is a war against all peace-loving Nigerians and against the unity and progress of our great nation’.
Idris said that President Tinubu is determined end the country’s security challenges. He added: ‘Since May 2023, when he assumed office, Nigeria’s security agencies have neutralised more than 13,500 terrorists through sustained operations and arrested over 17,000 suspects, who are now undergoing interrogation or prosecution for various offences. Also, more than 9,800 victims abducted by terrorist elements, including women and children, have been rescued and reintegrated’.
