{"id":159915,"date":"2025-04-19T22:24:24","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T21:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/benue-sankera-forum-blames-insecurity-on-gov-alias-inaction"},"modified":"2025-04-22T22:20:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T21:20:00","slug":"benue-sankera-forum-blames-insecurity-on-gov-alias-inaction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-sankera-forum-blames-insecurity-on-gov-alias-inaction","title":{"rendered":"Benue: Sankera forum blames insecurity on Gov Alia\u2019s inaction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>The Sankera Peace and Development Forum, SAPEDEF, has attributed the worsening insecurity in Benue State to what it describes as the inaction and alleged inaccessibility of Governor Hyacinth Alia, who is currently serving his first term in office.<\/p>\n<p>In a strongly worded statement issued on Saturday and signed by its National President, Dr Paul Gbande, and National Secretary, Doshima Vembe, the Sankera-based non-profit peace advocacy group warned that the state government\u2019s failure to engage critical stakeholders has hampered efforts to restore order in the region often referred to as Nigeria\u2019s \u201cfood basket.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>SAPEDEF cautioned the public against heaping blame on security agencies, noting that personnel and troops had continued to give their best in combating insecurity across the 23 local government areas of the state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur investigations revealed that a peace process initiated by the Catholic Bishop of Katsina-Ala Diocese, Most Rev (Dr) Isaac Dugu, had resulted in the decision by suspected criminal gangs to lay down their arms, with certain conditions to be met by the Benue State government,\u201d the statement noted.<\/p>\n<p>SAPEDEF urged the state government to adopt the recommendations of the Bishop Dugu-led peace initiative, describing it as a credible blueprint for resolving the violence plaguing the Sankera axis. The group expressed concern that Governor Alia has allegedly failed to support or even convene a broader stakeholders\u2019 meeting to deliberate on the Bishop\u2019s findings and proposals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs concerned stakeholder, we are worried that the governor has (allegedly) refused to key into the program or call for an expanded stakeholders\u2019 meeting, to discuss Bishop Dugu\u2019s painstaking and patriotic interface with these people, who opened up on their grievances, and the pathway to a peaceful Sankera.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>SAPEDEF further disclosed that the recent wave of killings was the result of a violent confrontation between two criminal factions \u2014 the Full Fire Boys and Chengs Boys \u2014 with one allegedly receiving support from Fulani elements in the area.<\/p>\n<p>According to the group, \u201cIt has also been revealed that some members of these deadly groups engage in cattle rustling. When this happens, the Fulani herders demand the return of their cows, and in the process, tension escalates, leading to fatality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The group asserted that security agencies had already shown a willingness to collaborate with the peace initiative and called on the political leadership to demonstrate the same resolve.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe peace process that Bishop Dugu initiated, which was welcomed by all stakeholders, is the best thing that would have resolved the security challenges in Sankera and its environs. The delay in the peace process by Governor Alia has exacerbated the state of insecurity in Sankera land and its environs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They claimed the state government\u2019s alleged nonchalance had frustrated disarmament efforts and allowed violence to fester.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the heart of the rising security challenges in Sankera is the rustling of cattle by a known kingpin in the area. If the governor had acted since last year on this matter, the security agencies would have gone far in the disarmament programme.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a matter of fact, the killings that took place recently in all those areas were not orchestrated by the Fulanis. It was a clash between Full Fire Boys and Chengs Boys. And wherever there are clashes, the two groups attack each other\u2019s relatives,\u201d the group claimed.<\/p>\n<p>It went further to accuse the state government of sidelining local government structures and failing to fund them adequately, thereby incapacitating grassroots leadership in tackling insecurity and implementing developmental programmes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can say authoritatively that His Excellency, our dear Governor Alia, is (allegedly) not accessible to critical stakeholders in the security ecosystem. Accordingly, when security proposals and other classified materials are brought to him, he is not available to treat or attend to them with the urgency that is required of such briefings,\u201d SAPEDEF stated.<\/p>\n<p>The group concluded by calling on Governor Alia to rise to the occasion and provide the leadership necessary to end the bloodshed in Benue State.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe state categorically that the insecurity in Sankara and other parts of Benue State will be reduced to the barest minimum whenever the governor decides to act decisively. Also, we appeal to the governor to implement the peace template enunciated by the Bishop, who has shown more than passing passion in this regard,\u201d SAPEDEF said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. The Sankera Peace and Development Forum, SAPEDEF, has attributed the worsening insecurity in Benue State to what it describes as the inaction and alleged inaccessibility of Governor Hyacinth Alia, who is currently serving his first term in office. In a strongly worded statement issued on Saturday and signed by its National President, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":159914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[9994,331,254,16302],"class_list":["post-159915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-alia","tag-benue","tag-nigeria","tag-sankera"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Benue: Sankera forum blames insecurity on Gov Alia\u2019s inaction - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Sankera Peace and Development Forum, SAPEDEF, has attributed the worsening insecurity in Benue State to what it desc ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-sankera-forum-blames-insecurity-on-gov-alias-inaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Benue: Sankera forum blames insecurity on Gov Alia\u2019s inaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Sankera Peace and Development Forum, SAPEDEF, has attributed the worsening insecurity in Benue State to what it desc ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-sankera-forum-blames-insecurity-on-gov-alias-inaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-19T21:24:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-22T21:20:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/sm_1745089342.118576.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1556\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1110\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-sankera-forum-blames-insecurity-on-gov-alias-inaction#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-sankera-forum-blames-insecurity-on-gov-alias-inaction\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Benue: Sankera forum blames insecurity on Gov Alia\u2019s inaction\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-19T21:24:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-22T21:20:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-sankera-forum-blames-insecurity-on-gov-alias-inaction\"},\"wordCount\":733,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-sankera-forum-blames-insecurity-on-gov-alias-inaction#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/sm_1745089342.118576.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Alia\",\"Benue\",\"Nigeria\",\"Sankera\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-sankera-forum-blames-insecurity-on-gov-alias-inaction#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-sankera-forum-blames-insecurity-on-gov-alias-inaction\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-sankera-forum-blames-insecurity-on-gov-alias-inaction\",\"name\":\"Benue: Sankera forum blames insecurity on Gov Alia\u2019s inaction - 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