*Visits Alia, Condoles With Victims’ Families
*Grieving State Strengthened By Your Coming, Says Gov
By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna
Leaders of 19 Northern States and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) branches of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) have again condemned the killings in Benue State, describing the spate as a national tragedy that demands honest conversation and urgent intervention by the authorities.
The condemnation was contained in a statement issued today, August 1, by Northern CAN Chairman, Rev. John Joseph Hayab after a condolence visit to the crises-ridden state by a high-powered delegation of the body.
The delegation, comprising CAN Chairmen, Secretaries, youth and women leaders from across the North and FCT, was received at Government House, Makurdi, the State capital, by the State Governor, Hyacinth Iormem Alia, himself a cleric.
Addressing the Governor and stakeholders at the event, Rev. Hayab rejected the prevailing narrative of herders-farmers’ clashes as variously claimed and perceived by some political leaders as the root cause of the killings, insisting that the reality is far more complex and sinister.
“This is not a herders-farmers’ crisis, and we must stop describing it as same.
“If you don’t make the right diagnosis, you will never administer the right treatment. We must call these killings what they are and face the situation with honesty and courage,” Rev. Hayab stressed.
Recall that CAN’s position resonated with one publicly tendered on June 18, 2025 by the Paramount Ruler of the Tiv nation, Tor Tiv, His Royal Majesty Professor James Ayatse, during the visit to the state by President Bola Tinubu in the wake of international and national outrage over the massacre by killer herdsmen of over 200 persons in Yelwata, Guma Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue state.
Just in case the president had been receiving the wrong briefing, the Tor Tiv told the president that the bloodfests in the Middle Belt state were not due to any herders-farmers’ clashes, but a well-planned, carefully executed orgy of bloodletting by those intent on seizing, through use of terror tactics, the lands of Benue people and subjugating them on their ancestral lands.
Indeed, the highly respected royal father stopped short of directly calling them terrorists.
Rev. Hayab emphasized that while Northern CAN had issued several press statements condemning the killings, the visit was a step further in showing solidarity with the people of Benue state, an area he described as the food basket of the nation and a critical part of Nigeria’s stability.
“Beyond our prayers, we will continue to speak truth to power and engage national leaders on sensitive issues of national importance until meaningful change is achieved,” Hayab added.
Responding, Gov. Alia thanked the delegation for the visit, describing it as a divine gesture that brought comfort, healing, and spiritual strength to the grieving state.
“As I was shaking hands with all of you and feeling your warmth, what ran through my mind was this: ‘I am because you are, and you are because I am.’ That is Christianity. That is the message Christ preached—love,” he said.
The governor further remarked that the presence of the delegation symbolized Jesus Christ sitting with the people of the state in their moment of pain.
“You are not just sitting here. It is Christ who is sitting on each of the chairs you occupy. That is how much this visit means to me and the good people of Benue,” Gov. Alia noted.
Lamenting the scale of the killings, the governor stressed the sacredness of human life, saying that even one death is too many, let alone hundreds.
“When one life is lost, it is one too many. And when the numbers keep rising, you wonder what is going on. But your visit, your prayers, and your presence are a complete interpretation of the good things that God is bringing out of a very bad situation,” he said.
Alia appealed to the Christian community to remain steadfast in praying for the peace of the state and Nigeria as a whole.
The visit was concluded with prayers for the victims, their families, and the state.
The delegation reaffirmed Northern CAN’s commitment to sustained advocacy, justice, and peace-building efforts in the state and elsewhere.
