Benue State Governor Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia has stated that forming vigilance groups is one of the best ways to end the constant clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the state.
Governor Alia made this statement at the mass burial of the victims of a herdsmen’s attack at Mbaikyor in the Gwer East Local Government Area of the state on Tuesday.
The Nigerian Tribune had reported the killing of 17 villagers at Mbaikyor on March 7, 2024.
However, despite 15 victims being given a mass burial on Tuesday, our correspondent learned that two of the victims were earlier buried due to their decomposing bodies.
The governor, represented by his deputy, Sam Ode, said, “Today is a sad day in the history of Benue State; to line up caskets like this is unacceptable. I am so sad and my heart is heavy to see this kind of spectacle that shouldn’t have happened.”
“Security is not solely the responsibility of the government because there is no one who can protect you like yourself; you need to have a Joint Security Task Force or vigilante groups that would be properly profiled and handed over to the government to handle them. That is the solution to the insecurity we are facing in the state,” he emphasized.
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Governor Alia promised to construct the road that passes through the axis to ease the movement of security agencies to the area in times of emergencies, adding that the community was also ripe for a police station.
However, the governor promised to personally meet with families of the bereaved after the burial and prayed against a recurrence of the same.
Elias Audu, a member of the Benue House of Assembly (BNHA), representing Gwer East, wondered why, despite the availability of fighter planes to tackle such attacks, security did not live up to their billing.
He advised that the relevant security agency should be reprimanded because they could have intervened in the crisis, using fighter helicopters in such a situation, adding that they didn’t when his people were under siege for over 3 hours.
President of the Masev Development Association, Prof. Vitalis Tarhule, said that attacks had occurred in 2014, 2018, and 2024, resulting in about 40 lives lost in total.
He called for the establishment of a security post in Mbaikyor to check the activities of armed herders.
Earlier, an interdenominational service was conducted for the victims of the attack by pastors and reverend fathers before the final interment.