Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has disclosed details of a private meeting convened by President Bola Tinubu and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, in a bid to address the ongoing security crisis in the state.
The governor on Friday revealed that the discussions were part of efforts to pursue a political solution to the persistent killings in the state.
He made the disclosure while speaking on The Morning Brief, a programme on Channels Television.
Benue, one of Nigeria’s major agricultural states, has continued to grapple with violent attacks, allegedly perpetrated by suspected herdsmen. The most recent wave of assaults has claimed about 160 lives in several communities.
In response, President Tinubu had on Sunday mandated Governor Alia to initiate reconciliation and peace-building efforts among the affected groups.
A power struggle is believed to be ongoing between Governor Alia and the SGF, two prominent APC leaders in Benue.
“We have a complex situation that is primarily being sponsored from somewhere, being remote-controlled from somewhere,” Alia said during the interview.
“We would be able to contain the intra-local government and the intra-local government crises in the state.
“The problem here is the externals who come in armed with their AK-47 and their AK-49.”
Alia confirmed that President Tinubu personally initiated a meeting with him and Akume to ascertain the nature of their relationship and encourage unity in tackling the crisis.
“I think the president is not wrong to have said that we should find a common ground for reconciliation,” the governor stated.
“He had invited the SGF and myself because of what he was hearing out there in the public. He tried to find out whether there were some differences between us.
“The SGF himself said there were no differences between us. If they were, going forward, there would be no anxiety at all. So, the traditional institutions should go to their beds with eyes closed.”
The governor also refuted allegations that the Federal Government had abandoned the state to its fate, insisting that Tinubu has given full backing to security efforts in Benue.
“If he (President Bola Tinubu) didn’t have an understanding of what is going on, he won’t be giving us full support,” Alia said.
“Seventeen local governments out of 23 were under siege and then we fought it down to nine local governments. We fought it down to six and now to three. It came down because of the full support we got from the Federal Government.”
The article was originally published on Politics Nigeria.
