Benue state governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia has rejected claims of religious genocide in the state.
The governor stated this
on Wednesday at a consultative forum on the protection of the rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Forcibly Displaced Persons (FDPs) organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Abuja.
According to the governor, Benue’s situation does not fit the United Nations definition of genocide.
Alia said, “In my state of Benue, we don’t have any religious, ethnic, racial, national, or state genocide. Do we have insecurity? Yes, we do. But it is not a genocide.”
The Catholic priest turned politician, also dismissed suggestions that Nigeria is witnessing any form of jihad, noting that despite the activities of Boko Haram and ISWAP in the North-east, their ambitions do not translate into a nationwide religious war.
“We do not have any jihad in Nigeria. If there were any, I would be the first to raise the alarm, “the governor said.
Alia’s remarks came amid renewed global scrutiny of Nigeria over allegations of targeted killings of Christians, a claim repeatedly rejected by the federal government and several religious leaders.
The governor revealed that he had visited the U.S. Embassy in Abuja to present Benue’s security realities, stressing that neither his assessment nor the UN’s standard supports the genocide label.
Benue has faced persistent attacks since 2009, with data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project showing that more than 800 people were killed and nearly 400 kidnapped in the last two years.
On June 14, over 100 residents of Yelewata in Guma Local Government Area were killed in coordinated assaults that drew national outrage.
Despite these incidents, Alia maintained that the violence, while severe, should not be misconstrued as genocide.
