Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has rejected widespread claims that a religious genocide is taking place in his state, insisting that the situation has been mischaracterised by external actors.
Benue and neighbouring Plateau have frequently been cited, especially by foreign legislators, international media, and separatist groups as centres of alleged Christian extermination. Those claims contributed to former U.S. President Donald Trump placing Nigeria back on the list of “countries of particular concern.”
Speaking in Abuja at a consultative forum hosted by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on the protection of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and other forcibly displaced persons, Alia dismissed the genocide narrative.
The governor, a former Catholic priest, said his position is shaped by his religious background.
“I am a reverend father. So being in governance does not take that away from me. I am still a reverend father,” he said.
“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’m still going back to the church as a reverend father and a good Christian. So that is for the record, we need to understand this.”
Alia insisted that the violence in the state does not meet global standards for genocide.
“In my state of Benue, we don’t have any religious, any ethnic, any racial, any national or state genocide. We don’t have that,” he said.
“Do we have a number of insecurities in the state? Yes, we do. But it is not a genocide. Someone would need to check the United Nations definitions for this.”
He acknowledged that Benue has suffered significant casualties over the years due to clashes between herders and farmers.
“Have we lost a number of people? Yes, we have at different stages… we’re talking about the agro pastoralists, the herders; and then we’re talking about the agro farmers, typical farmers,” he explained.
“So it began like play, like joke, and then it went over and then just continued to some huge proportions. But that does not fit into the parameters of a genocide.”
Alia accused some groups of exploiting the situation for political gain.
“For those who seek to politicise everything, there is no genocide in Benue state, but we have security challenges in Benue,” he said.
Alia added that he recently met with U.S. officials to clarify matters.
“So, it’s on the record that I had an interface with the American ambassador to let him know that both in Nigeria, particularly in Benue state, there is no genocide, unless it’s my description,” he stated.
