Amid growing fears over persistent assaults on agricultural settlements, Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters in Abuja has attributed the recent surge in violent incidents across Benue, Plateau, and neighboring states to foreign herders entering the country through unsecured borders.
The Defence Headquarters raised the alarm as deadly attacks on farming communities continue unabated. These assaults have resulted in the deaths of hundreds and the displacement of thousands, forcing many into Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps.
Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, had previously pointed to the abuse of the ECOWAS free movement protocol by foreign herders, accusing them of crossing into Nigeria and launching attacks on vulnerable rural populations.
Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, Major General Markus Kangye, Director of Defence Media Operations, stated that the attackers’ language, physical features, and behavior strongly suggest they are not Nigerian nationals.
“You can often tell from the way they speak. Even if someone speaks Hausa, the accent or dialect can reveal whether they are local or from another country,” Kangye explained.
He elaborated that Hausa, like any language, varies in tone and pronunciation across regions. “The Hausa spoken in Nigeria differs significantly from that spoken in Mali, Ghana, or the Central African Republic,” he noted.
Kangye further mentioned that physical traits also help identify the origins of the perpetrators. “Even their hair texture and overall appearance indicate they are foreigners,” he said. He clarified that only the Shuwa Arabs in Borno share some similarities with the Sahel region, but even they have distinct features.
While acknowledging that some Nigerian herders have played roles in farmer-herder disputes, Kangye emphasized that the worst violence is being caused by non-Nigerians.
“There are Nigerian herders who sometimes clash with farmers, especially when they trespass on farmlands. But much of the deadly violence we’re seeing is carried out by foreign individuals who enter through our weakly monitored borders,” he stated.
To address the problem, Kangye stressed the need for better cooperation between security agencies to strengthen border controls and manage entry points more effectively.
He also shared recent progress in counter-insurgency efforts, revealing the arrest of a notorious arms dealer and kidnapping ringleader, Buhari Umar, who was allegedly behind a wave of terror attacks across Gombe, Bauchi, Plateau, and Kaduna states.
