PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, June 18, told the people of Benue State to learn how to accommodate anyone seeking to live and conduct business in the state.
He said this was important for peace to reign in the troubled state.
The president gave the advice when he visited the state to condole with the government and others who lost loved ones to a chain of attacks that have been unleashed on the state by gunmen.
The ICIR reports that killings in the state have spanned several years, and more than 200 residents have reportedly died in the onslaughts since the beginning of this month.
While some blame cropper-herders’ conflict on the carnage, others label the assailants as foreign terrorists.
Addressing the state’s present and past leaders, as well as other residents on Wednesday, Tinubu said that if the state accommodated non-indigenes seeking to live and conduct their businesses, there would be less conflict in the land.
“We have enough land to feed, to raise our children, to cultivate happiness and prosperity. We must do it. We will change that attitude of hate.
“We sang through the national anthem, we said, ‘though tribes and tongues may differ, in brotherhood we stand.’ It must reflect in everything we do, in agriculture, in the economy, in sharing, in developing our people,” he stated.
The president emphasised the importance of unity and cooperation among Nigerians, saying, “As Nigerians, we are members of the same family, living in the same house, but sleeping in different rooms.”
He emphasised unity and cooperation as means to addressing the root causes of the conflict and promoting sustainable peace.
Tinubu directed security agencies to take decisive action against the killers. He demanded to know why Nigerian security institutions, including the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), State Security Service (SSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), and Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), failed to make any arrests from several attacks on the state.
“How come no arrest has been made? I expect there should be arrests of those criminals,” he queried.
He then challenged the Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa, “Christopher, we need to get our ears to the ground. Let’s get those criminals. Let’s get them out.”
He also told the state governor, Hyacinth Alia, “We are here to govern, not to bury. We are here to raise families, not to lose them. Provide healthcare, water for them to drink, and food to eat.”
The president stressed the importance of peace for development, as he challenged the governor to provide land for ranching in the state to accommodate herders.
He also proposed establishing a committee of elders to find a permanent solution to the conflict.
“Let us please find a way to form a committee of elders here, that committee to comprise those who had governed these states before, to really find a permanent accommodation,” Tinubu stated.
The ICIR reports that the state governor had said politicians and terrorists were behind the attacks. However, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, disagreed with him that parts of the state were occupied by terrorists.
Earlier in his welcome address during the president’s visit, the state governor asked the Federal Government to establish state police and an intervention fund to support the victims of the attacks.
According to him, the establishment of state police is critical to stemming the tide of violence in the state.
The Tor Tiv, James Ayatse, a professor, who spoke before the governor, dismissed claims that the killings in the state were the products of clashes between herders and farmers.
Ayatse said the killings were “a calculated, well-planned, full-scale genocidal invasion and land-grabbing campaign.”
“We do have grave concerns about the misinformation and misrepresentation of the security crisis in Benue State. Your Excellency, it’s not herder-farmers clashes, it’s not communal clashes, it’s not reprisal attacks or skirmishes.
“What we are dealing with here in Benue is a calculated, well-planned, full-scale genocidal invasion and land-grabbing campaign by herder terrorists and bandits, which has been going on for decades and is worsening every year,” he stated.
The ICIR reported that school children in Makurdi, the state capital, were ‘forced’ to file on major roads under heavy rain to welcome the president.
This scene unfolded despite a public holiday declared by the state government and severe weather conditions that left many of the children drenched, shivering, and without proper cover.
The ICIR reported that the president’s convoy waded through floodwaters along the Lafia-Makurdi road due to torrential rainfall in the early hours of the day.
Tinubu blamed the rain for his failure to visit the Yelewata and Daudu communities in Guma Local Government Area, where the latest attack in the state took place.
A reporter with the ICIR
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