The governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia, has declared that the state is under siege from terrorists and bandits, saying that the recent attacks that have claimed several lives are beyond a herders-farmers clash.

There has been a surge in attacks in the North-Central state in recent weeks, with several local government areas experiencing violent onslaughts that have claimed numerous lives.

Governor Alia, who was a guest on ‘Channels Television’s Politics Today’ on Friday, said that the attacks were well-planned and executed by terrorists.

“We are under siege,” Alia exclaimed on the programme when asked if he thinks the state is under terror attack.

He added, “The way these attacks come and the intel we receive, it is a directed calibrated plan and then executed. On a daily basis, we are receiving those intel. Of late, each of the intel we receive, 60 to 65 per cent of it is quite accurate.

“And then when you realise what is going on, it is beyond just conflict, it is beyond just an ethnic fight between herders and farmers in our state, it is directed, it is planned and then it is executed, it is some terrorism.”

The governor insisted that he no longer viewed the attacks as a clash between farmers and herders, stating that they now involved specialised killers—terrorists who engage in a form of guerrilla warfare.

“For some reason, none of them is ever caught, they come in in the thick of the night, hit, run and nobody sees a trace. So, it is some terrorism that is eating us up,” he remarked.

However, the governor also accused some serving politicians in the National Assembly of sponsoring the attacks in Benue, saying that it was unacceptable.

Although he did not name the politicians, the governor said that an interim report of a judicial panel he set up, revealed many big names and vowed to take up the matter as soon as he receives the full report next week.

He said, “We set up a judicial panel to sort out for us why we kept having attacks from within and from without and we have received an interim report. Between Tuesday and Wednesday next week, I am going to get a full report from the panel.

“It is very unsettling because some politicians who are very functional and are in the National Assembly and are in Abuja are the architects and arrowheads of not just instigating but harbouring and keeping these people, keeping them in the bushes and taking care of all their bills and buying all the gadgets for them.

“This is extremely unacceptable. If they do not like the lives of the people and are fighting for their own political position, I think I am serving the interest of the common masses and it is my right to protect them.

“So, once we receive this report the coming week, we are going to take it up and take it seriously.”