A group, the North Central Peace Advocates (NCPA) has said that the killíngs in Benue State is politically motivated.
NCPA said that the killíngs are not farmers – herders clashes, warning that the continued mischaracterisation of the crisis could further endanger national security and hinder effective response.
NCPA, in a statement in Abuja on Monday by its Coordinator, Frank Utor, condemned the persistent orgies of violence in Benue, which have claimed hundreds of lives in recent times, displaced communities, and derailed years of peacebuilding efforts.
The group faulted the unceasing framing of the attacks as “herders-farmers clashes,” calling it a dangerous and misleading narrative that shrouded the true identity of the perpetrators.
It noted that the evidence available and intelligence point to the presence of foreign-backed, well-trained terror cells operating across Benue, Plateau, and other parts of the North Central region, with a clear objective to wage war against indigenous communities.
NCPA accused successive governments of making wrong diagnosis of the crisis by erroneously labeling the perpetrators as herders or bandits, thereby denying security agencies the clarity needed to confront them as terrorists.
“We must be unequivocal, the persistent framing of these killings as herders versus farmers clashes is not only false but dangerously misleading.
“The killers are not herdsmen. They do not rear cattle. They rustle cattle from legitimate herders to fund their operations and exploit the confusion to destabilize society.
“They don’t come on donkeys, camels, or horses. They ride in on motorcycles, heavily armed, to launch attacks and retreat to their camps.
“This mischaracterisation is one of the greatest obstacles to ending the Benue and North Central crisis. It deprives security agencies of the legal and operational clarity needed to confront the threat decisively,” he said.
It further maintained that calling for the Benue State Government to engage in dialogue with the attackers while the Federal Government did not recognise perpetrators as terrorists amounts to a dereliction of duty.
“To ask the Benue State Government to look for the killers of hundreds of people and dialogue with them is akin to abdicating government’s responsibility to secure our communities and bring the killers to justice,” Utor said.
The group, however, acknowledged President Bola Tinubu’s efforts to restore peace across Nigeria, but insisted on urging the government to seek lasting solutions to menace,.
It noted that this would only come when the government recognises the insurgency in the region as a full-scale terror operation and gives the necessary orders for a military crackdown.
“Unless the government courageously interprets this war for what it is, the call for dialogue will be futile,” he said.
The NCPA warned that the continued attacks were designed to ignite anarchy, erode public trust in governance, and plunge the country into lawlessness.
Meanwhile, former President of the Nigerian Senate, David Bonaventure Mark, has warned that his people may resort to self- defense if the killings in the state did not stop or government fails in its constitutional duty to protect them and secure their property.
Mark gave the warning in a statement by his media aide, Paul Mumeh, on Sunday in Abuja, describing the wave of renewed attacks and killings across communities in the north central state of Benue as “senseless, tragic, and unacceptable.”
The army General expressed the concern over the worsening security situation in Benue, saying the citizens may soon be compelled to embark on self-help measures to stay alive.
“This is the unfortunate reality the Benue people are confronted with.
“Government must rise to its responsibility, or risk leaving the people with no option but to defend themselves,” Mark said.
