Father Alia ‘Under Siege’

In May 2023, the people of Benue State celebrated the emergence of Father Hyacinth Alia as governor. Two years later, they are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. No thanks to deaths in the hands of Fulani herdsmen

Key Points:

• Bloodshed in Benue has killed the euphoria that welcomed Father Alia as governor in 2023
• Civil servants are happy that their salaries are paid regularly, but feel insecure due to the activities of killer-herdsmen in 16 Local Government Areas of Benue State.
• The Open Grazing Prohibition law was been in abeyance since 2023, but nothing is in its place to reduce conflicts between farmers and herders
• Disunity among Benue politicians, even in the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) is affects a consensus on how to tackle insecurity in the state.

By Theophilus Abbah

Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia, the governor of Benue State, rode to power in 2023 on divine wings, all fortuitous. His campaign slogan during the 2023 elections was ‘Heal the Land; Heal Benue.’ Until his election, Father Alia was renowned as priest, faith healer, exorcist, psychotherapist. His healing crusades in Benue State bestowed upon him the aura of a man who operated under divine power and authority. Father Alia’s fame had spread all over the state, that bestowing him political authority in Benue was akin to surrendering the state to the power of God.

An Illustration of Rev Fr Alia

The second factor was related to the first. A Catholic priest, Fr. Moses Orshio Adasu (12 June 1945 – 20 November 2005), was elected in 1992 under the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) as governor Benue State. The cleric-turned-politician left positive and indelible marks in the social and economic spaces in the state; his era was considered golden in the ‘Food Basket of the Nation.’ The people witnessed unprecedented development in physical infrastructure, with the establishment of cottage industries, Benue State University, tertiary hospitals, and the opening up of the agrarian state through numerous feeder road projects.

The emergence of another Catholic priest as governor was considered a good omen; the rising of the sun for the second time, after years of pitch darkness.  The invasion of killer-herdsmen in Benue since 2011 up to 2023 caused too much bloodshed and disruption of economic activities. Perhaps, with his flowing robe, Father Alia would bring peace to the state.

The emergence of another Catholic priest as governor was considered a good omen

The change of baton in Makurdi on May 29, 2023 followed the mistaken style in many states. Full of assumptions, little research into the reality on ground, incoming governors take their oaths of office and wave aside the experiences and challenges of their predecessors was foolish mistakes. In the same vein, Father Alia, praised for being scholarly, failed to study the background to some decisions taken by former Governor Samuel Ortom. In a rash manner, his first assignment was to hit the jugular of his predecessor’s regime, suspend the Benue State Open Grazing Prohibition Bill 2017. In his inaugural speech he said, “We are inheriting an anti-open-grazing law whose implementation has become controversial. Having gone through some period of implementation, it is fit and proper for us to review the law to identify the lessons learned, hold the gains made if any, and reform to accommodate current realities.”

The ‘review’ of the law translated to its suspension. The suspension opened the floodgate for unrestrained grazing for cattle and reignited the conflict between herders and farmers over deliberate encroachment and grazing on farmlands. The conflict has spread bloodshed from Zones A and B to Zone C of Benue State. Killings are taking place in the following 18 out of the 23 Local Government Areas: Logo, Ukum, Katsina-Ala, Guma, and Gwer-West.

Others are Gwer-East, Otukpo, Agatu, Apa, and Ohimini. The killers operate also in Okpokwu, Ado, Kwande, Buruku, Tarka, Oju and Obi. As if to confirm the suspicion that his ascendency to the governorship was engineered by vested interests of some Fulani elite in the All Progressives Congress, the governor’s choice of words in addressing killer-herders came as a shock to the people. He described them as ‘my brothers in the bush.’ Not calling them violent Fulani herders, bandits or gunmen gave the impression that the state was in for a new era of peace with those who trouble Benue farmers.

The governor’s choice of words in addressing killer-herders came as a shock to the people

Before Father Alia emerged on the scene, there was a convincing theory that the Fulani herders had a standing army of invaders, raiders, and killers lurking around Benue State. At the snap of the finger, they could be ferried or, as speculated, airlifted into any territory to wreak havoc and, with the speed of light, get spirited away into safety beyond the arms of the military or the police.

It is, therefore, disappointing that two years into his era as governor, the killings in Benue State have not just continued but are extended into previously safer local governments in Benue Zone C. The killer-herders wasted almost 200 lives in the month of April 2025, a month before the second anniversary of Father Alias as governor.

The killer-herders wasted almost 200 lives in the month of April 2025

So, what went wrong? Setting aside the Benue State Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law may have pleased the Fulani elite who did not forgive Ortom for enacting the law. But Father Alia did not put in place measures to deal with the purpose of the law. The prohibition law was a direct response to the escalating and violent conflicts between nomadic herders and sedentary farmers in the state. Primarily, the law was to prevent this bloodshed, loss of lives, destruction of property, and the displacement of numerous communities, severely disrupting social order and economic activities.

The law was also meant to protect farmlands and property, as open grazing often led to the destruction of crops, community ponds, settlements, and other properties as livestock roamed freely. The law aimed to prevent these damages and protect the livelihoods of farmers.  Another objective was to prevent the destruction of farmlands. The law aimed to create a more stable and secure environment for agricultural activities, which are crucial to the Benue State economy.

Father Alia has kept the law in abeyance, not implementing it, not amending it; not coming up with an alternative law to deal with the incessant killings under his nose

The Benue State government, before Father Alia stepped into power, sought to adopt a modern approach to livestock management that would minimize conflicts, protect agricultural livelihoods, ensure environmental sustainability, and ultimately foster peace and security within the state. The law mandated the establishment of ranches as an alternative to open grazing and prohibited the free movement of livestock for grazing purposes. Father Alia has kept the law in abeyance, not implementing it, not amending it; not coming up with an alternative law to deal with the incessant killings under his nose.

As a Catholic priest, his reluctance to visit and sympathize with victims of violent killings has surprised the people of Benue State. The few times he has reacted to the deaths in the agrarian state, he called on the Federal Government to send in security forces to tackle the invaders. In a recent interview with ARISE News Governor Alia described the current wave of violence as a “new phase” in the long-standing conflict between farmers and herders in the region.

An Illustration of Violence in Benue State

“The appropriate captivating way to speak on what we are undergoing is that we are under siege. What we experience is the armed herders come in, before no, they could just come in with their herds and then to the isolated local governments and then do the attacks and then the people settle down. They come in alone, wear one dress and stay in the bushes as long as they can, until they do the attacks and then they disappear. After a week or two, then they come in with their folks to occupy those spaces. These attacks are very deliberate and calculated. They come in, attack, fully with the intent of killing and then occupation. The attacks we have experienced are very deliberate and so calculated with the aim to come, kill and landgrab.”

Going by Nigerians’ experience with bandits, effective local security operatives create the environment for effective intervention by forces from the centre. By dismantling the forest security guards put in place by his predecessor, without providing an alternative, Father Alia opened the door for the killers to operate unhindered. It is difficult for soldiers flown in from Abuja or any other part of Nigeria to know the bush paths through which the killers invade Benue rural areas. Local vigilantes may be in a better position to prevent the ‘foreign bandits’ from invading their communities. Some soldiers have been deployed in some towns around villages that have been prone to attacks. But the killers have not been deterred.

The attacks we have experienced are very deliberate and so calculated with the aim to come, kill and landgrab

More than ever before, the people of Benue must unite against the common enemies who have tested the patience and resilience of the people from one local government to another. From 2011 to 2016, the battleground was Agatu Local Government Area, where constant violence depopulated villages, destroyed farmlands, and made life unlivable. The killers moved to Tivland, from Gwer West to others, taking over villages, including the ancestral home of former Governor Ortom. The 2017 anti-open grazing law tamed the violence to some extent. But since Father Alia suspended the law, the invaders have returned with more violence, targeting Idoma communities.

The Catholic priest brought relief to civil servants in Benue State with the payment of salaries owed by former Governor Ortom’s administration. Apart from settling the backlog, civil servants’ salaries and pension are paid regularly, before the end of every month.

The people of Benue must unite against the common enemies who have tested the patience and resilience of the people

The governor has deployed funds for physical infrastructure constructions. He has established the University of Agricultural Science and Technology in his local government area of origin, Vandekiya. The House of Assembly Complex in Makurdi, which was in a state of disrepair, is being reconstructed. To decongest express roads in Makurdi and Gboko, the governor is constructing underpass tunnels in the two main cities in Zones A and B senatorial districts. There are the establishment of small-scale industries for the production of bread, solar panels, nails, and the reinvention of Benue Brewery. With these and several other development projects, made possible by the exponential increase in monthly allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), it is clear the Reverend Father is poised to change the economic story of the State.

However, incessant killings by Fulani herdsmen, whom he is reluctant to call out or condemn, has punctured his popularity among the people who sought a relief from attacks. At the beginning, he accused some Abuja-based politicians for importing the killers; at another occasion, he denied that some killings took place. Worse still, he rarely visited victims to sympathize with them. If he was supported by the Fulani elite to become governor, Father Alia ought to have used that network to rein in the killers or ask them to retreat from Benue rural communities. The outcries over deaths from bandits overshadows the joyous celebrations from the developmental projects being executed by this governor.

He rarely visited victims to sympathize with them

Governor Alia has appealed to the Federal Government to step in and halt the bloodshed, It is yet to be seen how Abuja will respond. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, hails from Benue State. It is believed that Akume lifted Father Alia from his crusade grounds and planted him as governor. However, the relationship failed less than six months into his tenure as governor. The APC is Benue State is factionalized. A faction supports Governor Alia; the other is loyal to the SGF. These two political leaders in Benue State must close ranks, convene a conference of the state’s political leaders, and come up with locally fashioned counter-force to the invaders.

The governor must reach out to other stakeholders in the state for ideas and resources to deal with the evil forces that have spread fear and deaths in the state. From the governor’s interview, there is enough intelligence about the sources and strategies adopted by the invaders. Local intelligence outfits and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) tend to possess enough details about the killers. But intelligence information alone cannot deter the enemies; there must be proactive measures to defend these rural areas from the attacks.  Governor Alia much reach out to those who can help.

Read Also: Sultan Abubakar’s Burden and the Herdsmen Crisis