“Benue Governor Shuts Down U.S. Genocide Claims: ‘No Genocide, No Jihad In Nigeria’”

Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, has refuted claims circulating in the United States alleging a religious genocide in Nigeria, asserting that neither his state nor any other part of the country is experiencing such atrocities. According to Ireporter Online, Alia made the statement on Wednesday, November 19, during a consultative forum on the protection of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Forcibly Displaced Persons (FDPs) organized by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Abuja.

The Catholic priest-turned-governor challenged assertions used by some U.S. officials to classify Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern,” a designation linked to alleged systematic persecution of Christians. “In my state of Benue, we don’t have any religious, ethnic, racial, national, or state genocide. We don’t have that,” Alia said.

While acknowledging that insecurity exists in Benue, the governor emphasized that the situation does not meet the United Nations’ definition of genocide. “Do we have a number of insecurities in the state? Yes, we do. But it is not genocide. Someone would need to check the United Nations definitions for this,” he explained.

Governor Alia also dismissed claims of jihadist activities across Nigeria, clarifying that while extremist groups such as Boko Haram and ISWAP pursue ideological goals tied to distorted interpretations of Islam, their actions do not constitute an ongoing jihad. “We do not have any jihad in Nigeria,” he asserted. “If there were any, I would have been the very first person to raise alarm.”

He noted that Boko Haram seeks the establishment of an Islamic state within Nigeria, and ISWAP aims for a broader caliphate under ISIS, but stressed that these ambitions do not amount to an organized religious war in Benue or the country at large.

The governor’s remarks come amid heightened international scrutiny, following allegations by some U.S. officials of targeted killings of Christians in Nigeria, and controversial statements by former U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting the deployment of American troops to protect Christians. Alia maintained that Nigeria’s insecurity stems from banditry, resource conflicts, and governance challenges, rather than religious persecution.

He also revealed that he personally met with officials at the American Embassy to counter what he described as misleading narratives regarding Benue, reiterating that the UN’s genocide definition does not reflect the realities on the ground.