Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has dismissed claims of religious genocide in the state, countering a narrative circulated by some United States officials pushing for Nigeria to be redesignated as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).
Speaking on Wednesday at a consultative forum on the protection of the rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Forcibly Displaced Persons (FDPs) organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Abuja, Governor Alia — a Catholic priest turned politician — insisted that insecurity in Benue should not be mischaracterised as genocide.
“In my state of Benue, we don’t have any religious, ethnic, racial, national or state genocide. We don’t have that,” he said. “Do we have a number of insecurities in the state? Yes, we do. But it is not a genocide. Someone would need to check the United Nations definitions for this.”
The governor also stressed that there is no jihad ongoing in Nigeria, despite the activities of terror groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), both of which openly seek to impose extremist Islamic rule in parts of the North-East.
“We do not have any jihad in Nigeria,” Alia maintained. “I’m speaking to you as a reverend father in the church, and as a governor. If there were any, particularly in my state or any part of Nigeria, I would have been the first to raise the alarm.”
His comments come amid renewed global scrutiny following years of allegations suggesting targeted killings of Christians in Nigeria. Although the country was designated a CPC during former U.S. President Donald Trump’s tenure — with Trump even threatening military intervention to “save Christians” — the designation was later removed under President Joe Biden.
Multiple Nigerian officials and respected religious leaders have consistently rejected claims of religious genocide. A BBC investigation similarly found that U.S. government data used to support the allegations could not be independently verified. Security analysts also note that both Christian and Muslim communities have suffered indiscriminate attacks driven by banditry, competition for land and resources, and weak governance structures.
Governor Alia revealed that he recently met with the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria to clarify the situation. “I had an interface with the American ambassador to let him know that in Nigeria, particularly in Benue State, there is no genocide. The United Nations definition does not fit what is happening,” he stated.
Benue has faced severe insecurity since 2009, with widespread attacks across several communities. Data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) indicate that over 800 people have been killed and nearly 400 kidnapped in the state in the past two years alone. A coordinated assault on Yelewata in Guma LGA on 14 June led to the deaths of more than 100 residents.
