BENUE State governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, has dismissed speculations that he has approved the enlistment of Benue as one of the states for the establishment of Fulani colonies.
Alia made the disclaimer Tuesday in a statement through his Chief Press Secretary, Tersoo Kula.
Although media reports abound that President Bola Tinubu had approved the construction of 1,000 houses in Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger and Benue states, part of which will include ranches for Fulanis, a situation many likened to colonies, Governor Alia, who didn’t mention ranches however denied the allegation of establishing colonies.
The statement entitled: “Alia Has Not Approved Benue Lands For The Construction Of Fulani Colonies”, reads:
“Our attention is drawn to a story making headlines on the social media that Governor Hyacinth Alia, has included Benue in the list of states to get Fulani colonies.
“The story is false and should be disregarded.
“As earlier explained, it is a burning desire of Governor Hyacinth Alia and the present administration to return the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) back to their homes, as soon as possible.
“However, since most of their houses have been destroyed by the gun carrying marauding herders, the federal government of Nigeria under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has agreed to sponsor the reconstruction of new homes for our Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The homes are to be built in cluster formats, enabling our people to live more closely with each other and to experience more stability.
“Be rest assured that in Benue, the homes are for our people and not for any colony, whatsoever.
“Benue people should know that Governor Hyacinth Alia will not do anything that will undermine the goodwill he has gotten from the wonderful people of the state. The governor means well for the people of the state and as such, will always put them first”.
National Record gathered that the above statement was issued in reaction to allegations raised by the Benue State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) that Governor Alia agreed to cede Benue land for Fulani colony following President Tinubu’s request unlike his predecessor, Samuel Ortom, who defiantly stood against it when immediate past President Buhari made a similar move.
Alia had during his governorship campaign promised to establish ranches for herdsmen as part of the fulfilment of the state’s 2017 anti-open grazing law, which stipulates that the state government should set up pivotal ranches for herdsmen to encourage their compliance and end farmer-herder clashes.
After his election as governor, Alia slightly adjusted his promise saying that he will review the law in order to amend some grey areas, but just recently, he had told journalists at a press briefing at Government House, Makurdi that the anti-open grazing law was still in force.
It could therefore be assumed that since the governor has insisted that the anti-open grazing law is still in force, approving land for the establishment of ranches as envisaged by President Tinubu’s cattle colonies is still in line with the provisions of the law.
