Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has alleged that top politicians in Abuja and the National Assembly are instigating killings and harbouring those responsible for the ongoing crisis in the state
Benue Crisis Allegations have escalated, with Governor Hyacinth Alia directly accusing top politicians residing in Abuja and within the National Assembly of orchestrating and supporting the violence plaguing Benue State.
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The governor made these startling claims during a live interview on Channels Television’s “Politics Today” programme on Friday, June 6, 2025.
Governor Alia described the situation as “very, very unsettling,” asserting that while these politicians are focused on their own political positions, his paramount duty is to protect and serve the interests of the general populace.
“It is very, very unsettling because top politicians who are very functional and are in the National Assembly and are in Abuja, are the architects and arrowheads of not just instigating, but harbouring and keeping these people and feeding them in the bushes, and taking care of all their needs and buying all the other gadgets for them,” the governor alleged.
He continued, “This is extremely unacceptable. If they do not love the lives of the people and they’re only fighting for their own position, I think I am serving the interest of the common masses and it is a concern to me, and it is my right to protect it.”
While Governor Alia refrained from naming any specific politicians, he revealed that a judicial panel had been established to investigate the root causes of the attacks.
He stated that an interim report from this panel has already indicted many “big names,” and he vowed to take decisive action once he receives the full report, which he expects between Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
“We set up a judicial panel to sort out for us why we kept having attacks from within and from without, and we have received an interim report.
Between Tuesday and Wednesday next week, I am going to get a full report from the panel,” he explained.
“So once we receive this report that is coming, we are going to take it up and take it up very seriously. There are quite a lot of big names that are mentioned here, so this is where we are.”
The governor further declared that Benue State was “under siege,” asserting his belief that the ongoing crisis extends beyond typical ethnic farmer-herder clashes and amounts to a form of terrorism.
“We are under siege. The way these attacks come and the intel we receive, it is a directed, calibrated plan and then executed.
Daily, we are receiving that intel. Of late, each of the intel we receive, 60 to 65 per cent of it is quite accurate,” he said.
He concluded by stressing the deliberate nature of the violence: “And then when you realise what is going on, it is beyond just conflict, it is beyond just an ethnic fight between herders and farmers in our state, it is directed, it is planned and then it is executed, it is some terrorism.”