MAKURDI, Nigeria — Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has accused unnamed politicians and sitting members of the National Assembly of masterminding a wave of violent attacks that have plagued communities across the state in recent months.
Speaking on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme aired on Friday, June 6, 2025 Governor Alia said an interim report from a judicial panel he set up had implicated several political figures as key backers of the attackers.
He described the crisis as no longer a case of herder-farmer clashes but a calculated siege by armed groups with political sponsors.
“We are under siege,” Alia said during the broadcast.
“The way these attacks come and the intel we receive, it is a directed, calibrated plan and then executed.”
According to the governor, intelligence reports have consistently shown that some of the individuals behind the violence are “politicians who are very functional, and are in the National Assembly, and are in Abuja.”
“These are the architects and arrowheads of not just instigating but harbouring and keeping these people — keeping them in the bushes, taking care of all their bills, and buying all the gadgets for them,” Alia alleged.
He said the violence goes beyond sporadic conflict and is now being driven by organised armed groups carrying out targeted strikes.
“It is beyond just an ethnic fight between herders and farmers. It is some terrorism that is eating us up,” he added.
The judicial panel, tasked with investigating the root causes of the attacks, has submitted a preliminary report.
Alia stated that the final report would be delivered early next week, after which the state government will take “decisive action.”
“For some reason, none of them is ever caught,” he said.
“They come in the thick of the night, hit, run, and nobody sees a trace.”
The governor warned that the situation is rapidly deteriorating and reiterated that the state’s security crisis is no longer spontaneous but a deliberate and politically motivated threat.
Benue State, located in Nigeria’s North-Central region, has witnessed a spike in deadly attacks since the start of 2025, with several local government areas repeatedly targeted by armed assailants.
Hundreds have been killed and thousands displaced, prompting renewed calls for federal intervention.
While Governor Alia did not name the politicians he claims are involved, he stressed that the full report will provide a basis for official action and accountability.
“This is extremely unacceptable,” he said.
“If they do not like the lives of the people and are fighting for their own political position, I think I am serving the interest of the common masses, and it is my right to protect them.”
