Bandits Using Hit-and-Run Tactics in Benue, Says Governor Alia

Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia says bandits and terrorists responsible for recurring violence in the state have adopted elusive guerrilla-style tactics, making them hard to track and apprehend.

Speaking on Tuesday on Focus Nigeria, a programme aired on African Independent Television (AIT), Alia described the situation as increasingly complex due to the attackers’ unpredictable hit-and-run strategy.

“We’re talking about the bandits and the terrorists who have come to a very mystifying frame of guerrilla warfare. They come, hit, and go back. So we cannot identify them,” the governor said.

He, however, noted that the support of the federal government, particularly through intelligence operations, is yielding progress in tackling the insecurity.

“With the federal government’s continued support now through intelligence finding and searching, I think, we are going to do even some more,” Alia said. “We will identify those people, apprehend them, and create a new narrative for our three local governments and, in fact, the state.”

Alia also linked the rising insecurity to internal wrangling within the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), lamenting a lack of unity.

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“There is another layer to the challenges we have in the state here. The non-cooperation of some so-called major stakeholders, the disunity and disharmony within the ruling APC camp in the state, is quite unfortunate,” he said.

“There are some people who have been disgruntled and are yet to get back into the fold.”