A group, the Benue Democratic Ambassadors, BEDA, has raised alarm over the spate of attacks in Benue state by armed herdsmen, saying over 20 out of the 23 Local Government Areas, LGAs of the state have been taken over by the invaders.

Addressing the media in Makurdi, the National President of BEDA, Mr. Daniel Pila
lamented that the state was under siege and nothing concrete was being done by the government to rescue the state and its citizens from the killer herdsmen.

Pila also expressed worry that Aondona, the home town of the Catholic Bishop of Makurdi Diocese, Most Revd Wilfred Anagbe, a few days ago came under attack that claimed the lives of scores, just few days after the cleric addressed the
United States House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa during a hearing in America on the worsening insecurity in the state and parts of the country.

Bishop Anagbe during the hearing had recounted the ordeal of Christians in Nigeria and the attacks and killings of Benue farmers by armed herdsmen and insurgents and urged the American government to designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern.”

The group made up of a coalition of people of diverse profession and political affiliation noted that “the attack on Aondona village is most disturbing; first, Aondona is close to Raav, one of the places the Governor is proposing to establish a ranch and secondly because Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi is from there.

“Recall that Bishop Anagbe recently addressed the whole world on the series of killings of Christians in Nigeria particularly Central Nigeria, an address many people were not comfortable with and publicly threatened him. We call on the Federal Government to investigate the killings in Benue most especially, the attack on the Catholic priest, Rev Fr Atongo and the body of Christ.”

While noting that Governor Hyacinth Alia had not done enough to tackle the menace of insecurity in the state the group appealed to all stakeholders in the state to set aside their political differences, and come together to rescue the state from the total collapse of security.

“Benue is under siege as no place is safe in the state including Makurdi, the capital city. From Otukpo to Agatu, Gwer-West to Kwande, Makurdi to Ukum, Gwer-East to Katsina-Ala, Guma to Logo, nowhere is safe as herdsmen have taken over at least 20 out of the 23 LGAs that Benue has. We have nowhere to go to.

While insisting that Governor Alia had performed abysmally in his first two years in office in all sectors, BEDA noted that “In terms of projects, every single project that the Governor initiated has been abandoned; nothing is moving. For instance, Ishaya Bakut, Iyorchia Ayu and Vaatia College roads, among others that were awarded, even though without due process, have all been abandoned. And Makurdi town is also painfully very dirty.”

Reacting, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Tersoo Kula, dismissed the assertions of BEDA, describing them as baseless.

He said, “Their assertions are baseless. Before now, people used to close their businesses so early for fear of insecurity, for fear of the unknown. Today, people stay longer to do their commercial activities which is what is happening in Benue state.

“And in the state capital in particular, the Governor flagged off 16 urban roads in the metropolis. He has completed these roads and has now awarded 20 more in the same state.

“Several infrastructural projects are going on at the same time across the state. Benue Teachers are motivated, there is conducive atmosphere in the classroom to sit to teach and to learn because of the huge transformation of facilities and infrastructure in the education sector. And then someone comes out to claim that education has collapsed. It means that person first of all lacks knowledge or definition of what education is all about. Be assured that the Governor Alia-led administration is committed to providing more dividends of democracy to the people of the state in the days ahead.”