The Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, has revealed that those who have been on killing sprees in the state are not Nigerians.
Alia, who made the claim on Tuesday, said the perpetrators of the recent wave of killings across the state speak unfamiliar languages.
He also said on a Channels Television programme: “Politics Today,” that the attackers exhibit foreign characteristics.
He 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 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.”
According to the governor, intelligence from locals suggests the attackers may be foreign nationals.
Alia added: “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.”
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Governor Alia explained that this marked a new and more dangerous phase of violence compared to previous confrontations with traditional herders.
He said: “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 now 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?
“The way these killings are being planned and carried out is definitely coordinated.
“Some local government areas in Benue share borders with Cameroon, and those borders are quite porous.”
The governor also said intelligence reports point to the existence of terrorist hideouts in parts of Taraba and Nasarawa States, as well as in areas within Cameroon, adding: “The terrorists have their own havens in Taraba, Nasarawa, and in border regions of Cameroon.”
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