Benue Killings: Tinubu asks IG why ‘Fulani herdsmen’ are still walking free…It’s genocide here, Tor Tiv tells President

By Kingston Magare 18-6-2025
Durings his fact-finding visit to Benue State Wednesday, President Bola Tinubu harped on the need for a permanent solution to the incessant killings in the State.
While addressing the issue at a town hall meeting at the Banquet Hall of the Government House in Makurdi, President Tinubu asked the Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun, why the Fulani herdsmen causing havoc in Benue communities have not been arrested.
Tinubu who was welcomed to Makurdi by the State governor Hyacinth Alia and Traditional Chiefs hinted that a leadership committee would be formed to work for a permanent peace in Benue and the North Central region.
“I will want us to create this leadership committee now and then we meet in Abuja to really fashion out the nucleus for a lasting peace, and I’m ready to invest in that peace,” Tinubu said at the meeting.
“And I want the traditional rulers, Tor Tiv and Ochidoma to be included in this peace committee. I think by now you will be bored of hearing my voice, but I give you the assurance, we will find peace, we will convert this tragedy to prosperity.”
Turning to his police and army chiefs Tinubu added:
“Police, I hope your men are on alert to listen to information. How come no arrest has been made? I expect there should be an arrest of those criminals.
“Christopher (the Chief of Defence Staff), you have given much. I watch your comments, you can’t be tired of staying in the bush. Oloyede and the Air Marshal, we thank all of you, but we need to keep our ears to the ground, let’s get those criminals, let’s get them out. DG NIA, DG SSS, retool your information channels, and let’s have tangible intelligence so that this will not occur again.”
Speaking at the stakeholders meeting the Tor Tiv V, James Ayatse, said so much misinformation has been dished out concerning the killings in Benue.
He said, “We do have grave concerns about the misinformation and misrepresentation of the security crisis in Benue State. Your Excellency, it’s not headers-farmers clashes, it’s not communal clashes, it’s not reprisal attacks or skirmishes.
“It is this misinformation that has led to suggestions such as ‘remain tolerant, negotiate for peace, learn to live with your neighbours’.”
“What we are dealing with here in Benue is a calculated, well-planned, full-scale genocidal invasion and land grabbing campaign by header terrorists and bandits, which has been going on for decades and is worsening every year.
“Wrong diagnosis will always lead to wrong treatment. So, we are dealing with something far more sinister than we think about. It’s not learning to live with your neighbors; it is dealing with the war.”