Tor Tiv to Tinubu: “Benue Is Facing Genocidal Invasions, Not Clashes”

Tor Tiv to Tinubu: “Benue Is Facing Genocidal Invasions, Not Clashes”

The Paramount Ruler of the Tiv Nation and Chairman of the Benue State Council of Chiefs, His Royal Majesty, Professor James Ortese Iorzua Ayatse, has delivered a powerful and urgent message to President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, rejecting long-held national narratives that have downplayed the scale and nature of violence in Benue State.

Speaking during President Tinubu’s visit to Benue in the wake of the Yelewata massacre that claimed over 200 lives, the Tor Tiv said it was time for the Nigerian government to recognize the true nature of the conflict devastating the state.

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“Your Excellency,” he said, “it is not herder/farmer clashes, it’s not communal crisis, it’s not reprisal attacks or skirmishes.”

He criticized what he described as deliberate misinformation, which has led to misguided solutions such as asking victims to “remain tolerant”, “negotiate for peace”, or “learn to live with your neighbours.”

According to the revered monarch, these labels dangerously minimize the scale of atrocities being committed.

“What we are dealing with here in Benue,” the Tor Tiv continued, “is a calculated, well-planned, full-scale genocidal invasion and land-grabbing campaign by herder terrorists and bandits, which has been on for decades and is worsening every year.”

He warned that unless the Nigerian state correctly diagnoses the crisis, any proposed solutions will continue to fail. “Wrong diagnosis will always lead to wrong treatment,” he concluded.

The Tor Tiv’s statement adds to growing calls across the country for President Tinubu to take decisive and transparent action to stop the killings and displacement of thousands in Benue and other parts of Nigeria’s Middle Belt.

Observers say the royal intervention marks one of the boldest and clearest declarations yet on what many see as an existential threat to indigenous communities in the state.