IGP apologises for describing herdsmen attack as ‘communal clashes’

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris has apologized to the people of Benue State for referring to the recent herdsmen attacks on the state in which 73 people were killed and many villages sacked as communal clashes.

Idris, who arrived Benue yesterday morning, while addressing a town hall meeting at the new banquet hall of the Government House in Makurdi, said he was apologizing for the misconception of the statement which he made at a press conference in Abuja stressing that all he was trying to do was to convey a message that all Nigerians should be able to live together in peace.

“I apologize (to the Benue people) for the misconception of the statement I made at a press conference in Abuja. I was only trying to convey a message that Nigerians should live together in peace. As policemen, we try to avoid divisive statements.”

Earlier, speaker after speaker had criticised the IGP for describing the herdsmen attacks on Benue communities as mere communal clashes, insisting that it was nothing short of genocide and ethnic cleansing. 

Some of the speakers – including Chief Edward Ujege representing the three Socio cultural groups, Terrence Kwaghnongu representing the youths and Mrs. Rebecca Apedzan representing the women – insisted that only the military, and not the police, can curtail the herdsmen attacks in Benue.