Foreign herders behind attacks on Benue, Plateau communities – DHQ

DHQ image

The Defence Headquarters has attributed the recent spate of violent attacks on communities in Benue, Plateau, and other parts of the country to foreign herders who have infiltrated Nigeria through porous borders.

Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Markus Kangye, said the identities and languages of the assailants have helped security forces confirm that many of the attackers are not Nigerians.

He said, “Well , when you hear them talk in some instances , you will be able to decipher whether these people are from here or not. For instance, if I speak Hausa and my brother from the South East speaks Hausa, you’ll know that this Hausa is a borrowed one and Hausa language like any other language has different versions and intonations.

” If somebody from Sokoto for instance speaks Hausa and my friend from Katsina speaks Hausa you’ll notice some differences.

“The Hausa language we speak in Nigeria is different from that of Mali, Central Africa Republic and Ghana. ”

He added that apart from their language, their hair also showed they are not Nigerians.

“So when we arrest these herders and terrorists from the way they speak, it is clear and even from their hair, you will tell you that they are not from Nigeria.

“I think the only community in Nigeria that has hair similar to the Shuwa in the Sahel region is probably the Shuwa Arabs in Borno State but they don’t even have the same”, he said.

Kangye’s remarks come amid growing concerns over recurring attacks by armed herders on farming communities, which have left hundreds dead and thousands displaced in recent months. Many of the victims are now taking refuge in Internally Displaced Persons camps.

The Governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia, had earlier stated that foreign herders were exploiting the ECOWAS protocol on free movement to cross borders and unleash terror on local communities.