Benue killings not farmer-herder clashes but genocide – Tor Tiv tells Tinubu

The Tor Tiv V, His Royal Majesty James Ayatse, has strongly refuted the widespread narrative that the violence in Benue State is the result of clashes between herders and farmers, labeling the crisis as a deliberate campaign of genocide and land grabbing.

The monarch made the powerful statement on Wednesday, during a meeting between President Bola Tinubu and stakeholders in the state, amid growing concern over persistent attacks on rural communities.

Describing the common portrayal of the conflict as “misinformation,” the Tor Tiv warned that framing the killings as communal disputes between farmers and herders is misleading and dangerous. According to him, this false narrative has fueled misplaced calls for peaceful coexistence, when in fact, the state is facing a calculated and coordinated assault on its people and ancestral lands.

“We do have grave concerns about the misinformation and misrepresentation of the security crisis in Benue State,” Ayatse said. “Your Excellency, it’s not herders-farmers clashes, it’s not communal clashes, it’s not reprisal attacks or skirmishes.”

According to the traditional ruler, the killings are part of a long-running, systematic invasion by “herder terrorists and bandits,” aimed at displacing indigenous communities and seizing their ancestral lands.

“What we are dealing with here in Benue is a calculated, well-planned, full-scale genocidal invasion and land-grabbing campaign which has been going on for decades and is worsening every year,” he said.

He warned that continued misdiagnosis of the crisis would hinder the search for lasting solutions. “Wrong diagnosis will always lead to wrong treatment.

“So, we are dealing with something far more sinister… It’s not about learning to live with your neighbors; it is dealing with war,” Ayatse asserted.

President Tinubu’s visit comes amid renewed violence in Benue, where over 160 people have been killed in recent weeks.