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Benue Governor Hyacinth Alia said the armed personnel who have been attacking the state in the past two months were foreigners.
According to him, 73 bodies were found in the latest round of attacks by insurgents, logos and Kasina-Alla local governments.
He explained that the attackers entered the community of hundreds of motorcycles with “AK-47, AK-49 and Machetes”.
The governor revealed that in addition to Ukum, logo and Katsina-Ala LGA, 72 people were killed among the invaders, and the other three councils (Kwande, Guma and Gwer West) are still under deadly siege.
Speaking on a TV show last night, Alia said: “These people come in, completely armed by AK-47, AK-49. They can’t stand the appearance of Nigerians, they won’t say what we say.
“Their Hausa is a Hausa, not a normal Hausa that we Nigerians speak.
“The people we witnessed the attack said they were Malians, people of different forms, but not Nigerians.”
He said the “terrorists” operated from the Nigeria-Camillon border near the North LGA, using the porous border.
Aria said: “When they kill them, they come in when they kill them.
The governor said the latest attack turned Good Friday into a “Black Friday” and later saw the village of Sankera Axis.
“They surrounded many villages. They were ready and were just willing to take anything to walk or breath away. Anything along the way was cleared.
“By the morning, there were 72 deaths – 29 in Ukum, 27 in the logo, Katsina-Ala and others in other hospitals had countless injured and displaced residents.”
He said another body was recovered, bringing the loss to 73.
The governor saw the motive of the plunderers as robbing the land.
“In the past 15 years, they have occupied some of the LGAs,” he said.
Alia stressed that the state’s 23 LGA’s Ukum, logo, Katsina-Ala, Kwande, Guma and Gwer-West are now on the red line.
“They grabbed the land, drove the people out, and left them on the land. That’s what happened because there are some local governments here that have taken over the past 15 years.
“These occupied areas are the basis of repeated attacks. These are areas you hear, constantly attacking because they attack and then go back to the hinterland of local governments.
“The attackers are also targeting food security, with herders in the group destroying stored crops. They will now open the barn, destroy food, cut off yams, etc. They cut off Guinea corn, corn and throw it to the cows for meals,” Aria explained.
Aria said the attacker community group bikes stressed the need to empower people to defend themselves.
“The terrorists are not only in their 50s, but also on motorcycles, one, one, two hundred and three hundred motorcycles carry three to four people.
“This is a lot of terrorists just paraded. Equipped with exquisite weapons, they surpassed local defenses, including the Benue State Civil Protection Guard lacking heavy weapons.
“The Civil Protection Guard is also nearby, but they won’t carry weight gadgets. The law does not allow them to do so.”
Alia advocates community policing in response to threats citing overstretched security agencies.
“A unified person is overstretched. Locals told us that we want to protect our turf.” He supported the call for self-defense, but warned.
The governor urged the federal government to establish special security operations bases on the border and equip locals.
