•Kill farmers, burn barns
From Scholastica Onyeka, Makurdi
Anguish, apprehension and fear can best describe the situation in Benue State following renewed attacks by suspected herdsmen in the past few months, whereby more farming communities have been sacked, many killed, millions of naira’s worth of property destroyed and barns burnt. Stakeholders have expressed worry that with the situation, if not arrested and soon enough, the food basket of the nation, Benue, would become desolate and no one would be left to even bury the dead.
There are also fears that the constant killing and displacement of farmers would lead to famine across the nation.
Attacks by herdsmen on Benue communities have become a worrisome development. While government says over 6,000 persons have been killed in the state in the last eight years, it further lamented that the killings have assumed dangerous dimensions, with over 130 persons killed in the last one week.
Dry season is the period pastoralists move southward in search of water and grass to feed their cattle. In Benue State, this movement usually creates conflict between the herders and farmers, as herders often lead their cattle into farms and, sometimes, barns, destroying crops and foodstuff in the process.
There are reports that, aside from the economic and environmental reasons for constant invasion of Benue communities by herders, there are also acquired religious and ethnic dimensions. Thousands of people have died since these attacks began about a decade ago.
In the past few days, herdsmen, believed to be of Fulani origin, have renewed hostilities on some parts of Benue, killing residents and displacing others in their numbers.
The most painful and recent attack was the killing of 36 persons in Nyiev, Guma Local Government Area (LGA) of the state, including internally displaced persons (IDPs), women and children taking shelter in a camp called Mgbam, close to Udei, in Guma LGA. Mgbam is located in Daudu, along the Makurdi-Lafia road.
The incident around 9pm on Friday, April 8, was preceded by other attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday the same week.
Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen militia had attacked Apa LGA on Monday, April 2, and killed three persons. Less than 24 hours after, they, again, attacked Umogidi, Entekpa Adoka district, in Otukpo LGA, and killed three people on Tuesday, April 3.
In the evening of the following day, Wednesday, March 4, while the grief-stricken villagers were burying the three killed earlier, the gunmen returned and started shooting at mourners.
This second attack on Umuogidi claimed 46 persons, including a policeman. The chairman of Otukpo LGA, Bako Ejeh, who was still mourning the loss of his son in the first attack, further lost his in-law, his younger sister’s husband, and a nephew of about 38 years old during the second attack, while some other villagers are still missing.
Also, earlier on Sunday, April 1, suspected herders attacked a church in Akanawe, in Logo LGA of the state. They killed one person and abducted four others, including a district head.
From January to March, herdsmen-terrorists have launched continuous attacks on communities in Gwer West LGA of Benue State, particularly Tse Fela in Mbabuande and Tse Akyegh in Ikaaghev council wards.
The divisional police officer in charge of Naka Division, Gwer West, Mamud Abubakar, a superintendent of police, was killed by the rampaging herdsmen in January, as well as the commander of Benue State Community Volunteers Guard (BSCVG) and many others.
It was said that the terrorists also destroyed property worth millions of naira, They burnt down barns containing thousands of tubers of yam, bags of grains and houses, among others.
Chairman of Otukpo LGA, Bako Eje, told Daily Sun that his people in Umuogidi have been traumatized from incessant attacks.
“The attackers came in from Apa through Agatu LGA. They have been terrorizing our people. They graze their cows to our area, eat up our cassava, our grains and yams, and the ones they could not eat they just set them on fire.
“Most of our people have deserted the place. They are now camping at one primary school at Adoka, particularly the Igili and Umuogidi people,” he said.
A resident of Naka, Andrew Iortim, said his people now live in fear after several attacks, which left many dead: “As I speak to you, my village is deserted. Our people are farmers. We can no longer access the land. Every day, these people come and kill our people. Many have left the village to live in camps, others went to Makurdi and other places to live with relatives. We are now refugees in our land.”
Also expressing pain, a farmer and councillor representing Ukemberagya/Tswarev council ward in Logo LGA of Benue State, Jonathan Tyonongo, cried out to the federal government to help secure their lives and land.
Tyonongo, who spoke on phone, said herdsmen have made their lives miserable by ensuring that they do not sleep.
He said: “They come every time to attack us. We need security at Jootar, Iorza and Chembe communities in Ukemberagya/Tswarev council ward, Logo. These three places are where they come to disturb us. We are on fire due to what is happening in our area.
“As you know, I’m a councillor and I also farm to feed my family. As I’m talking to you, I’m in the farm but fear does not allow my people to go to their farms. This is planting season, our seedlings are wasting at home, cows are eating them up and we are helpless.
“This morning, some people have asked me why I’m going to the farm alone and I told them I give my life to God. As a representative of the people, I cannot run and leave them. So, the government should help us, deploy adequate security to the state to secure our land and prevent killing of innocent residents.”
Lamenting the killings recently, the Forum of Tyoshin Academics (FoTA) in Benue State said more than 600 people have been killed in 10 council wards of Makurdi and Gwer West LGAs in separate attacks. The forum, which cried out that “Tyoshin nation is bleeding”, noted that Gwer West alone had been attacked 54 times in the last 11 years.
According to the forum’s chairman, Prof. Joseph Kerker , the the attacks have led to the destruction of property worth millions of naira, including worship centres, homes, schools, hospitals and bridges, among other social amenities.
“It is apparent, based on the unfolding events, that there is a preconceived agenda by the armed herdsmen militia and their sponsors to occupy Tyoshinland using brutal force.
“Between 2011 and 2023, Fulani militia have launched more than 54 separate attacks on Tyoshin people.
“As of February 12, 2023, over 600 persons from eight council wards: Mbapa, Sengev, Saghev/Ukusu, Mbachohon, Tyoughatee, Mbabuande Gaambe Ushin and Gbaange/Tongov, in Gwer West, and two council wards, Modern Market and Bar, in Makurdi LGAs, have been displaced from their homes and are now living in refugee camps in Naka, Makurdi and other parts of the state. This has created a serious humanitarian crisis requiring urgent attention.”
Also, the Apa Development Association (ADA) told newsmen that not fewer than 89 persons have been killed by suspected herdsmen in 31 communities in Apa LGA of Benue State. These killings, they said, happened in the last three months.
The chairman, Eche Akpoko, a lawyer, said, within the last three months, property worth millions of naira were destroyed and thousands of persons displaced.
According to him, the deceased victims suffered carnage in the most dastardly, gruesome and inhuman manner, adding that, in spite of the barrage of attacks on the innocent and defenseless people, the federal government has failed to give it the desired attention that will bring a lasting solution to the lawlessness.
He decried that the trigger-happy gunmen are never apprehended nor brought to book by the federal government. He also called on the federal government to deploy law enforcement agents to the flashpoints to defend and protect the innocent Apa indigenes.
The association said, “In the event of government failure to protect lives and property as its primary duty, the people may be compelled to activate their rights of self-defense, which may lead to total breakdown of law and order.
“We further call on both the federal and state governments to mobilize their relevant agencies such as National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to provide relief materials to the improverished without any source of livelihood who have become refugees in their own land.”
Recently, too, the executive of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Benue State, cried out over herdsmen’s renewed attacks on rural communities in the state.
According to them, more than five local government areas in Benue State are engulfed in these renewed security crises, especially after the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections.
Going historical, Benue ALGON, led by the chairman, Mike Uba, said Tiv and Idoma have repulsed and resisted Fulani attempts to dominate and occupy traditional lands in the Benue Valley for over 100 years.
According to them, “Benue Valley is the best natural environment for livestock development in Nigeria, especially Benue State, which is also the freshwater capital of Nigeria. The Fulani have wished to capture the river banks in the past, but especially under President Muhammadu Buhari, have been emboldened to enforce their grip on cattle and livestock monopoly in Nigeria as a window to help the spread of Islam in Benue State, especially, and the Benue Valley and Middle Belt generally.
“They maintained that their intentions in Benue and Nigeria have nothing to do with livestock development. What the Fulani are doing is land-grabbing for the Fulani of the whole world. They are especially targeting Benue State and the Benue Valley for religious, political and solid mineral purposes. There is no livestock transformation plan in their agenda.
“In furtherance of Fulani control and expansion therefrom, within Benue State”, Benue ALGON noted that “this agenda is being implemented vigorously via forceful takeover and occupation of indigenous lands on river banks in over 13 local governments in the state, including Kwande, Logo, Katsina-Ala, Buruku, Tarka, Makurdi, Agatu, Apa and Gwer West (Naka).”
They observed that the interim victory of the All Progressive Congress in the state further fired the Fulani in their push in the five local governments areas of Kwande, Agatu, Makurdi, Guma and Gwer West.
“This is both poignant, dangerous and evidential of the Fulani threat in the state. The new dimension speaks volumes of command room coordination and strategy. This is a strategic attempt to attack from all corners of the state as it is tactical. The attempts are also politically timed to coincide with the electoral season.
“They demanded that, going forward, the next Governor of the state must come armed with a robust livestock vision and agenda that will permanently resolve the herder-farmer crises in the state from where Ortom will leave off saying, ‘if we get it right, we move forward, wrong, serious crisis.'”
Recently, Governor Samuel Ortom visited victims of herdsmen’s killings in Nyiev, where 36 people were killed in an IDP camp.
Ortom lamented the increase in herdsmen’s attacks on Benue, saying, with the spate of attacks across the state that have left over 100 persons dead in the last one week, if allowed to continue, the Benue people may be annihilated in a short time.
He described the Benue situation as unfortunate and condemnable, saying it was for the killings, among other reasons, that the state government enacted the Anti-Open Grazing Law.
Ortom said the Anti-Open Grazing Law was supposed to be a win-win for all: a law enacted by the Benue people, adding that the perpetrators were well-known and should be fished out and punished for their acts.
He said Benue people were law-abiding and would not be provoked to take up arms against anyone, and called on President Buhari to go beyond condemnation and smoke out the bandits from Benue and bring them to book.