Nigeria, Nov. 20 -- Speaking on Wednesday in Abuja during a consultative forum on protecting the rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Forcibly Displaced Persons (FDPs), organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Governor Alia urged critics to "check the UN definition" before making such allegations.

"In my state of Benue, we don't have any religious, ethnic, racial, national or state genocide," he said. "Do we have insecurity? Yes, we do. But it is not a genocide."

Alia, a Catholic priest-turned-governor, stressed that while Benue has faced deadly attacks for years, the violence is not aimed at any single faith or ethnic group. He also pushed back against claims of an ongoing jihadist takeover in Nigeria.

"W...