There is No Religious, Ethnic Genocide in Benue – A Catholic priest Governor Says
Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia, a Catholic priest turned politician, has publicly declared that there is no religious genocide in his state or any part of Nigeria, directly countering the narrative being used by some United States government officials to justify designating Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC).
Governor Alia made the assertion during a consultative forum on the protection of the rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Forcibly Displaced Persons (FDPs), organized by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Abuja.
“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,” the governor stated. “Do we have a number of insecurities in the state? Yes, we do. But it is not a genocide.”
Denying Jihad and Rejecting Misrepresentation
Governor Alia maintained that there is no jihad going on in any part of the country.
“I’m speaking to you as a reverend father in the church. I’m speaking to you as a governor of a state. If there were any, particularly in my state or any part of Nigeria, I would have been the very number one person to make a noise,” he added.
Read Also:
The Governor’s remarks come as Nigeria faces intense scrutiny following the CPC designation and the threat from President Donald Trump to send troops to Nigeria to “save Christians.”
Governor Alia disclosed that he visited the American embassy in Nigeria to explain the issues regarding insecurity in his state. “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, and the United Nations description of a genocide does not fit within the parameters.”
Insecurity, Not Genocide
While the governor denies the genocide claim, he acknowledged the severe security challenges in Benue State, which has faced mass killings since 2009. According to Armed Conflict Event and Location Data (ACLED), more than 800 people were killed and nearly 400 others were kidnapped in the state in the last two years. In a single incident on June 14, a series of synchronized attacks were inflicted on the people of Yelewata in Guma Local Government Area (LGA), killing over 100 persons.
The Nigerian government and various leaders have consistently stated that while there is widespread insecurity, it does not target religious groups, as both Christian and Muslim populations have been killed indiscriminately due to factors like weak governance, resource scarcity, and banditry. A BBC investigation reportedly found that the data cited by U.S. government officials to claim a Christian genocide in Nigeria cannot be independently verified.
By PRNigeria
