Nigeria, June 17 -- A Benue-based public affairs analyst, Stephanie Shaakaa, has described the recent bloodlettings in Yelwata as a coordinated invasion by armed herdsmen, not mere clashes with poor farmers.

In a telephone interview with The News Chronicle, Shaakaa criticized the state government's portrayal of the violence as reprisal attacks, accusing Governor Hyacinth Alia's administration of downplaying the crisis and failing to act decisively.

"What's happening is not a clash. It's a systematic armed invasion. These attacks are calculated. The assailants strike in the dead of night when villagers are most vulnerable."She said.

Shaakaa dismissed the government's official death toll, claiming that the real number is significantly hi...