Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia has declared that armed Fulani herders who attack the state are Malians and not Nigerians.
This is also as he revealed that herdsmen have killed at least 598 Benue people.
The governor spoke amid renewed attacks by herdsmen on Benue communities on Tuesday, which left at least 11 persons dead.
Alia, while featuring on Channels Television's Politics Today on Tuesday, said the Hausa and Fulani the armed herders speak are distinct from what is obtainable in Nigeria.
He added that the attackers who wield AK-47s don't look like the indigenous Fulanis in Nigeria.
“We know Nigerians—by our ethnicities, we can identify a Fulani man, a Yoruba man, a Hausa man—we know them.
“Even the regular traditional herders, we know them. They work with cows, herding them with sticks.
“But these folks, the attackers, are coming in fully armed with AK-47s and 49s. They do not bear the Nigerian look. They don’t speak like we do. Even the Hausa they speak is one sort of Hausa.
“It’s not the normal Hausa we Nigerians speak. So it is with the Fulani they speak. There is a trend in the language they speak, and some of our people who understand what they speak give it names.
“They say they are Malians and different from our people. But they are not Nigerians— believe it,” he stated.
Earlier while receiving the National Security Adviser, NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, the governor said, “As of April 17, 2025, the total population loss in some affected communities is 598."