The Tor Tiv, James Ayatse, has told the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu that the killings happening in Benue State are not clashes between herders and farmers, but a planned ethnic cleansing aimed at taking over the lands of Benue people.
The royal father spoke at a meeting with the President and stakeholders in Benue on Wednesday. The Tor Tiv said that many people had misunderstood the crisis and had wrongly advised Benue citizens to stay calm and live peacefully with their neighbours.
The allegation is coming on the heels of a marching order by the president ordering the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa to arrest perpetrators of last Friday’s massacre in Yelewata community in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.
Tinubu told the CDS during a town hall meeting with political leaders in Benue State, “Christopher… We need to get our ears to the ground. Let’s get those criminals. Let’s get them out,”
Te Tor Tiv said, “We do have grave concerns about the misinformation and misrepresentation of the security crisis in Benue State.
“Your Excellency, it’s not herders-farmers clashes, it’s not communal clashes, it’s not reprisal attacks or skirmishes.”
He described the violence as a “calculated, well-planned, full-scale genocidal invasion and land-grabbing campaign” by herder terrorists and bandits that has lasted for decades.
He added, “Wrong diagnosis will always lead to wrong treatment… We are dealing with something far more sinister than we think. It’s not about learning to live with your neighbours; it is dealing with a war.”
