The Tor Tiv V, James Ayatse, has dismissed claims that the killings in Benue State result from clashes between herders and farmers, calling such assertions misinformation.
During a stakeholders’ meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Benue on Wednesday, June 18, the monarch stated that this misinformation has led to suggestions encouraging the Benue people to be tolerant and accommodating.
Ayatse asserted that the killings represent a calculated, well-planned, full-scale genocidal invasion and land-grabbing campaign by “herder terrorists and bandits,” which has been ongoing for decades.
“We do have grave concerns about the misinformation and misrepresentation of the security crisis in Benue State. Your Excellency, it’s not headers-farmers clashes, it’s not communal clashes, it’s not reprisal attacks or skirmishes.
It is this misinformation that has led to suggestions such as ‘remain tolerant, negotiate for peace, learn to live with your neighbours’.”
What we are dealing with here in Benue is a calculated, well-planned, full-scale genocidal invasion and land grabbing campaign by header terrorists and bandits, which has been going on for decades and is worsening every year.
Wrong diagnosis will always lead to wrong treatment. So, we are dealing with something far more sinister than we think about. It’s not learning to live with your neighbors; it is dealing with the war,” the traditional ruler said.
