Foreigners attácking Benue communities — Gov Alia Claims

Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has attributed the recent wave of violent attacks in the state to foreigners who, he claims, speak unfamiliar languages not native to the region.

Alia spoke in an interview on Politics Today on Channels Television on Tuesday night.

The state has witnessed a disturbing rise in violence in recent weeks, including the 16th of April 2025, attacks on Otobi-Akpa and Emichi communities in Otukpo Local Government Area, and Utonkon in Ado LGA, where several lives were lost.

Earlier this month, youths in Otukpo staged a protest to decry the worsening security situation.

The demonstrators blocked the Otukpo-Enugu highway, urging the government to take swift action against the ongoing killings and abductions.

Addressing the security crisis, Governor Alia said reports from affected communities suggest that the assailants do not speak any known local language, reinforcing fears that they may be foreigners infiltrating the state.

Talking about the identities of the terrorists, Alia said:

“Let’s have the narrative very correct. We know Nigerians—by our ethnicities, we can identify a Fulani man, a Yoruba man, a Hausa man—we know them.

“Even the regular traditional herders, we know them. They work with cows, herding them with sticks.

“But these folks [the attackers] are coming in fully armed with AK-47s and 49s. They do not bear the Nigerian look. They don’t speak like we do. Even the Hausa they speak is one sort of Hausa.

“It’s not the normal Hausa we Nigerians speak. So it is with the Fulani they speak. There is a trend in the language they speak, and some of our people who understand what they speak give it names.

“They say they are Malians and different from our people. But they are not Nigerians—believe it.

“This is the second phase we are seeing. The initial ones were with the traditional herders. The traditional herders—we had fewer troubles with them. What we are experiencing has a new, different, strange face, and it’s quite alarming.

“These terrorists are everywhere. We are under a siege. These people just come and hit and kill and run back. Where are they running to?” [CONTINUE READING HERE]>>>>>