SEPARATING FACTS FROM FICTION: STAKEHOLDERS REFUTE ALIA’S CLAIM OF RESTORED PEACE
By Maik Ortserga
Within the last five months, persistent insecurity has continued ravaging Benue, killing scores of people and destroying livelihoods in the rural communities across the state. Despite the government’s continued insistence that insecurity has been brought under control, many observers are questioning the accuracy of this Malthusian alarm painting a glowing picture of a people living happier lives in terms of security than before.
During a thanksgiving service in honour of the Secretary to the State Government, Dcn Deborah Serumun Aber, the executive Governor and Chief Security Officer of the state, Revd Fr. Dr, Hyacinth Alia declared that “reported cases of killings in Gwer-West, Logo, Aliade, and Guma have ceased, and peace has been restored.” Alia added that “you can no longer hear about large numbers of people being killed as it was with the immediate past administration in our state.” His statement drew the ire of many people across the state, especially stakeholders from the regions where insecurity has been rife with swaths of people being killed on a daily basis.
In a swift reaction to the Governor’s statement, The Forum of Tyoshin Academics (FoTA) issued a statement on 10 February 2025, which was signed by the National President of the group, Prof. Patrick Ukase, and the National Publicity Secretary, Prof. John Ajai. The statemen reads in part “, FoTA wishes to categorically state that this claim does not reflect the reality on the ground. The Tyoshin people of Gwer-West and Makurdi LGAs remain under siege, as our people continue to endure brutal attacks, maiming, and killings at the hands of armed Fulani herders. These assailants have not only maintained their violent activities but have expanded their reach into new territories.”
The statement further made reference to an earlier press statement in which the group appreciated the efforts of the Executive Chairman of Gwer-West Local Government Area, Hon. Victor Ormin, and Governor Alia in facilitating the return of IDPs to their ancestral homes, and also appealed “for sustained vigilance and proactive measures to protect the returning population, “urging the Governor, the Chairman, and all relevant stakeholders to collaborate with security agencies to ensure the safety of lives and property.
However, the recent statement by FoTA notes with regret that “the recent spate of killings and attacks on innocent Tyoshin people underscores the fact that “it is not yet Uhuru.” The returning population does not feel secure, and the reality on the ground contradicts any claims of restored peace.”
In a final plea, the group called on Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to rise to the occasion and fulfill their constitutional duty to protect the Tyoshin people, just as they swore to protect the lives and property of all Nigerians.
In a related development, the Turan Development Association (TUDA) made a press statement on Friday, 14 February 2025. The press statement signed by the President General of the group, Mr. Festus Terkula Iorkyaa and the Secretary- General, Mr. Emmanuel Ijever said contrary to Governor Alia’s recent statement that peace has returned to Kwande, the reality on the ground tells a different story. TUDA revealed that the Turan community has witnessed increased violence, with at least 50 persons killed between December 2024 and February 2025. The statement maintained that homes, farms and property worth millions of naira continued to be destroyed, leaving the Turan people displaced with many leaving in fear, hunger and despair.
Both the statement by FoTA and TUDA said the government’s inability to accept the incidence of insecurity which is spreading like mushroom in early rains may be because the Governor has not been properly briefed by his appointees from those areas suffering the attacks, who should be providing him with accurate and up-to-date information regarding the continued loss of lives, or it may simply be because the Governor has chosen to ignore the plight of the people, leaving them to their fate. But, if the flurry of rebuttals is anything to go by, it then needs no Aristotlean logic to pick flaws in Alia’s claim that peace has been restored in the state. The TUDA statement ended “We urge the governor to take urgent and decisive action to prevent further loss of lives and destruction of property in Turan land.”
It will be also recalled that when on March 7, 2024 gun men suspected to be herdsmen attacked Mbaikyor, in Mbalom Council Ward of Gwer East Local Government Area, killed 16 people, injured 2 people and burnt over 30 houses, Govenor Alia was quoted as attributing the attack to cattle rustling by youths of the area. This event triggered the President-General of Masev Development Association World Wide, Prof. Vearumun Tarhule, represented by Barr. Polycarp Anande to issue a press statement saying the governor’s “narrative had left the community further shattered and demoralized.” Although the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Governor Hyacinth Alia, Sir Tersoo Kula reacted that the Masev people got it wrong and misunderstood the governor, this has left a bad taste in the mouth of many people of the area.
There was, however, a twist in the turn of events on Sunday 16 February 2025, when the Benue State Government through the Director General Bureau for Homeland Security, Jacob Gbamwuam, denied claims of persistent killings in the state, particularly in Turan Community of Kwande Local Government Area. Speaking on AIT, Mr. Gbamwuam said “Without any fear of contradiction, there has never been any such killings in Turan Community or any part of Benue between December 2024 and February 2025.” One does not need an AI-powered crystal ball to see that Gbamwuan sounded like a lesson learned by rote; he knew the tonality of what was needed, but would rather “not mess things up” for the government.
What many people found difficult to understand is the very fact that within the same period Gbamwuan said “there has never been any such killings in Turan Community or any part of Benue between December 2024 and February 2025,” people who were killed in Turan were buried in a mass burial which the state governor himself made a statement that the attackers will be dealt with . Within the same period, there was another mass burial in Zone C which was even attended by the deputy governor, Sam Ode, who in a Bone TV report, decried the devaluation of human lives and condemned what had happened, calling on the State Emergency Management Agency to do assessment of the number of displaced persons to ensure that they are registered for support. Col. Salisu Inusa of Operation Wild Stroke also confirmed the incidence in the same Bone TV report. All efforts to reach Sir James Iorpuu Aondoakaa to comment on this matter were rebuffed as he couldn’t answer calls or respond to messages.
Meanwhile, both Hon. Tersee Ugbor and Senator Emmanuel Udende whose schedule of representation covers Kwande Local Government Area have confirmed the growing insecurity in the area.
There are rings within rings in this matter. For many of Hyacinth Alia’s appointees, briefing the governor properly on security means not protecting the sanctuary of displeasure from the governor’s ire, but this could be the sad end of the great mission if they continually choose to act for today and not for eternity. It takes courage to stand firmly erect while others are bowing and fawning for praise and power. Let the truth surface, there is no way you can hide the death of even one person in your phone pouch, talk less of the scores that are being killed on a daily basis without being reported.
Sadly, our young people are missing it all, mortgaging their future for the pleasure of these elite as they continue to defend their willful acts. Our youths have over time being regimented into swallowing half-truths from political elites, and cannot see why the government should accept its responsibility in guarding lives and property, which it had vowed to protect. Goethe said many years ago that the destiny of any nation, at any given time, depends on the opinions of its young men.
The answer to this issue is not just in comparing the incidence of insecurity between past administrations, and now, it is not about the replication of security outfits, neither is it about denying the obvious. It is not about merely brandishing the good work our dear governor has been doing in other sectors and sweeping insecurity under the carpet any time it is mentioned. It is about all Benue political elites, the traditional institutions, the religious institution working together to coerce the Federal Government to come to our aid and nip the volley of attacks in the bud without further delay. But this truth is not been told because it is the nature of human habit as noted by Mukwugo Ukoye that “when conflict is declared, truth is the first casualty, facts are twisted, lies are fabricated, and news slanted to suit the demand of political expediency: the masses are generally and tragically deceived and in their blind concern with daily living, they become woefully ignorant of what is going own in the world.” And let’s not forget the fact that in this world, men crucify before they crown the truth.
His Excellency, Governor Hyacinth Alia, should beware of vixens who pound their way to his heart twisting the real story and prostituting for their convenience the plight of the innocent who continue to endure brutal attacks. These owlish individuals continue telling His Excellency that the few who say the truth are the enemies of progress, they cast such people in demonic idioms. But come to think of this. For years, most of our innocent villagers are huddled together like rejected market fish at the camps strewn across the land, simple rural farmers who have continued to miss the fancy of their farms, the splendour of the fields, the sweet scent of early morning dews and the leapt of the early morning sun to greet their daily toil.
Does one need an invitation to sorrow with his fellow men and women suffering deadly attacks? Have those people giving the governor the impression that all is well ever experienced hunger? Even tears have an end because they come from the food we eat. Here in the town, a man can close his door and eat alone with his family, and if his chewing is noisy, he can drown it with the noise of the television, but in the village, where people eat outside- how can you stand up and close your house and eat inside your house? This, certainly, is not the culture of our people. So, how do we expect the people to cope with the looming hunger? Even with the rations at the camp, what is not of your home does not multiply. It finishes quickly.
It is sad that the spear of hatred has continued to be sharpened by the governing elite whom we look up to. Our leaders have allowed hate and violent preaching to flourish over the years without regulation, giving room for herdsmen to upgrade from bearing a cudgel to guns. Aristotle observed somewhere that “great commotions grow out of small things.” And as noted somewhere by Mokwugo Ukoye, “conflict, of course, is at the heart of politics at all levels. But it does not exhaust the nature of politics, which also expresses man’s harmonious and cooperative impulses.”
The continual widening gap separating the stated goals of our political elite and the observable performance in the area of security is reprehensible to a democratic conscience.
While the idea of denial of the flurry of attacks and the entrenchment of durable solutions, implying long-term actions in fixing IDPs neglect appears to bubble with the government, little is being done to curtail the attacks on communities which are breeding more IDPs. You can not put out an underground fire with a shower.
While I continue to pray day and night for His Excellency, Hyacinth Alia to succeed, the people around him ought to remember that though you can inspire a mass movement, it is not malleable clay that you can always mould to your heart’s desire, since in its evolution it acquires characteristics of its own which may lead it to turn to directions that were not dreamed of by you.
