Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, has said that the armed Fulani herders responsible for repeated deadly attacks in the state are not Nigerians, but foreigners from Mali.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, Governor Alia stated that the language and appearance of the assailants distinguish them from the indigenous Fulani people of Nigeria.
“We know Nigerians—by our ethnicities, we can identify a Fulani man, a Yoruba man, a Hausa man—we know them,” Alia said. “Even the traditional herders, we know them. They herd cows with sticks.”
He noted that the attackers, however, are heavily armed and bear no resemblance to local herders. “These folks are coming in fully armed with AK-47s and 49s. They do not bear the Nigerian look. They don’t speak like we do,” he added.
The governor pointed out that both the Hausa and Fulani languages spoken by the assailants differ significantly from the Nigerian dialects. According to him, locals familiar with their language have identified them as being from Mali.
“These attackers don’t speak the regular Hausa or Fulani we’re used to. There is a trend in the language they speak, and those who understand it say they are Malians. They are different from our people,” he said.
Benue has suffered a series of attacks in local government areas such as Otukpo, Ado, and Logo, leading to the loss of numerous lives. Governor Alia’s comments add a new dimension to the security challenges in the state, suggesting a transnational element to the violence.
