Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has cautioned residents against resorting to self-defence in the face of escalating attacks, warning that untrained individuals confronting armed assailants could worsen the crisis.
Speaking on Focus Nigeria, a programme on African Independent Television (AIT), the governor dismissed the notion that “desperate situations require desperate answers,” insisting that such emotionally driven responses are ineffective and potentially dangerous.
“You need to be trained to understand the dynamics of fighting guerrilla warfare. The Constitution permits us to defend ourselves, but to what extent?” he asked.
“I cautiously advise my citizenry that it is not advisable to simply pick up knives, machetes, and sticks to fight. There are ongoing conversations around community policing; I am one of the governors who projected it.”
Alia explained that community policing offers a more strategic and sustainable solution, as it allows the state to harness local knowledge and mobilise individuals familiar with the terrain to assist security forces.
“With community policing, it becomes easier to identify those who understand the terrain and can be mobilised to join the ranks of the community police,” he said.
He also credited the federal government for supporting Benue through improved intelligence-gathering efforts, which he said are beginning to yield results.
“With the federal government’s continued support now through intelligence finding and searching, I think we are going to do even more. We will identify those people, apprehend them, and create a new narrative for our three local governments and the state,” he added.
The governor further linked the state’s security challenges to internal wrangling within the All Progressives Congress (APC), lamenting that disunity among party stakeholders is contributing to instability.
“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.”
According to Alia, President Bola Tinubu has intervened by urging APC leaders in Benue to reconcile their differences in the interest of peace and progress.
The governor concluded by reiterating his opposition to self-defence tactics, describing them as emotional reactions that could cause more harm than good.
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