Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, has clapped back at foreign officials peddling claims of religious genocide in his state, vehemently declaring the allegations false, misleading, and dangerously sensational.
Speaking at a high-level National Human Rights Commission forum in Abuja, the governor shut down insinuations reportedly pushed by some U.S. officials seeking to designate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern.
Alia said alarmist reports suggesting ethnic or religious cleansing in Benue were nothing but distortions whipped up by those who do not understand the realities on ground.
The international heat had risen sharply after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened possible military action over allegations of genocide against Christians.
But the Benue governor fired back decisively.
“In my state of Benue, we don’t have any religious, any ethnic, any racial, any national or state genocide. We don’t have that,” he said.
He acknowledged ongoing security challenges but maintained they do not meet the United Nations’ threshold for genocide.
Alia, a Catholic priest turned politician, also dismissed claims that jihadist forces were taking over parts of Nigeria, despite Boko Haram and ISWAP’s extremist ambitions.
“We do not have any jihad in Nigeria,” he insisted. “If there were any, particularly in my state or any part of Nigeria, I would have been the first to speak out.”
His message was unmistakable:
Benue is under pressure, but it is not at war with religion.
