Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia said on Wednesday that there is no religious genocide in the state, countering a narrative pushed by United States government officials to declare Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern.
“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.
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“Do we have a number of insecurities in the state? Yes, we do. But it is not a genocide. Someone would need to… check the United Nations definitions for this,” the governor said.
Mr Alia, a Catholic priest turned politician, said this during a consultative forum on the protection of the rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Forcibly Displaced Persons (FDPs) organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Abuja.
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He also maintained that there is no jihad going on in any part of the country, even though the two major rival terror groups operating mainly in Nigeria’s North-east – Boko Haram and ISWAP – have declared their aims to establish Islamic rule in their respective domains based on their distorted interpretation of Quaran widely regarded to be lacking scholarly credibility.
Boko Haram seeks a local Islamic state in Nigeria, while ISWAP envisions a broader caliphate across West Africa aligned with ISIS.
“We do not have any jihad in Nigeria,” Governor Alia maintained on Wednesday. “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.”
Mr Alia’s remarks come at a time Nigeria is facing scrutiny on the global stage over allegations of persecution and targeted killings of Christians.
The spotlight turned on Nigeria in the build-up to and subsequent designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern by the United States, with threat from President Donald Trump to send troops to Nigeria to save Christians.
The Nigerian government, top officials and many respected voices, including religious leaders, have denied the claim of genocide in Nigeria. Although there is widespread insecurity in the country, the government said, it does not target religious groups. Data cited by US government officials to claim a Christian genocide in Nigeria cannot be independently verified, a BBC investigation found.
Christian and Muslim populations have been killed without discrimination in Nigeria’s widespread insecurity fuelled by weak governance, scramble for resources, banditry, among other factors.
Nigeria was first designated a Country of Particular Concern during the first term of President Donald Trump. But the designation was lifted during the Joe Biden presidency.
Interface with US embassy
Speaking during the event on Wednesday, the Benue State governor noted that he visited the American embassy in Nigeria, explaining the issues regarding insecurity in his state.
“So, 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.”
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Since 2009, Benue State has faced security challenges resulting in mass killings different communities in the state. 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.
On 14 June, a series of well-organised, precise and synchronised attacks were inflicted on the people of Yelewata in Guma Local Government Area (LGA), killing over 100 persons.
