The paramount ruler of the Tiv people, Tor Tiv V, James Ayatse, has told President Bola Tinubu that the violence in Benue State is not a mere clash between farmers and herders, but a calculated campaign of terror and land seizure by armed herders and bandits.
Speaking during a high-level meeting between the President and Benue stakeholders in Abuja, the Tor Tiv strongly rejected what he described as misleading narratives.
He said the killings were neither communal disputes nor reprisal attacks, but a long-running campaign of ethnic cleansing against the people of Benue.
“What we are dealing with here in Benue is a calculated, well-planned, full-scale genocidal invasion and land grabbing campaign by herder terrorists and bandits,” he said.
The royal father said the state had suffered for decades under the weight of these attacks, which were worsening each year.
He faulted the suggestion that the people should “negotiate peace” or “learn to accommodate neighbours,” insisting such advice ignored the real nature of the threat.
“Wrong diagnosis will always lead to wrong treatment,” he said. “This is not about learning to live together. It is a war we are facing.”
Ayatse urged the President to take decisive action, stressing that Benue was facing an existential threat.
