Herders have killed over 3,000 Benue residents under Gov Alia’s administration
See the Timeline of Attacks Below:
Blood is flowing uncontrollably on Benue’s farmlands and in homes across the communities! The state has become a killing field since the year started! The merchants of death don’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
The Fulani terrorists are on occupation mission! Cries of helpless and vulnerable people – women, children and the elderly who have nowhere to run to are being heard daily across the state.
They cry without any help coming until the killers slit their throats.
Benue is apparently rudderless at the moment, as far as security is concerned. Yet, there is a governor in the state and President Bola Tinubu has not stopped sending huge allocations to the state which have tripled now that oil subsidy has gone.
In July 2023, the United Nations said there are 2.1 million internally displaced people in Benue State alone; the majority live in internally displaced people camp facilities within host communities such as Abegana and Daudu. The UN added that the humanitarian crisis of Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDP) in Benue State is presently worse than those in the North-Eastern part of Nigeria, The UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Dr Mathias Schmale gave these statistics when he visited Governor Alia at the Government House in Makurdi.
Governor Alia is on top doing nothing. But he doesn’t miss collecting security votes. A governor who is worried about the security situation in his state would have been seen visiting places worst hit by the attacks and mobilizing troops to prevent further bloodshed. But the only time we see Governor Alia is when he is alighting from a private jet. He is saying nothing and doing nothing to stop herdsmen attacks and killing of people in the state.
Governor Alia has literally become the spokesman for Fulani pastoralists. He absolves them of blame and defends them against accusations better than they defend themselves. Nomadic Fulani do no wrong in the eyes of Hyacinth Alia. He says the herders only react when their cattle are rustled and he also says his people are the cattle rustlers. Each time Alia accuses his people of stealing Fulani cattle, he receives a pat on the back from the Caliphate. Make no mistake about this. He is a friend of the Fulani who want to take over the land of his people.
In June, 2024, making it only one year of Governor Alia’s tenure, Amnesty International reported that only within the one year under Alia’s leadership, over 2,600 Benue people have been killed and over 50 communities in the state have suffered a total of 135 attacks. The report further said that 18 out of the 23 local government areas of the state have been adversely affected by the ongoing insecurity.
The statistics further indicate that within governor Alia’s first year in office, Fulani herdsmen have taken over many parts of the state and are in firm control. The pastoralists decide who goes where. The Fulani have appointed some of their members as leaders of the occupied communities. The indigenous villagers have to pay the armed herders money to allow them to go to their farms, and the villagers are under an unwritten oath never to complain if their farms are destroyed by Fulani cattle.
Whenever someone dies, the Fulani demand payment before allowing the bereaved family to bury their dead. That is the grim situation currently in Benue State under Alia.
While Alia was campaigning before the 2023 elections, he promised that if elected, he would return the IDPs to their ancestral homelands within the first 100 days of his administration. Sadly, after 17 months, the displaced people are still languishing in the IDP camps with little or no care coming from the Alia government. The victims of Fulani attacks have been abandoned by his government and the helpless people are now finding themselves in a dire situation with those who can’t cope now turning into a nuisance to the society. Instead of keeping his promise to resettle the IDPs in their homelands, we understand that the Alia government is asking them to sacrifice their communities and move to live with their relatives in Makurdi, Gboko, Otukpo and other towns in the state.
Governor Alia constantly says there is relative peace in Benue State. He does not want the rest of the country to know that Benue is under siege with frequent Fulani herders’ attacks. He has shown nonchalance towards the safety of the people.
Here is the timeline of Fulani herders’ attacks on Benue State during Governor Alia’s time so far.
Note: Many of the attacks have not been reported in the conventional and social media:
~ 30th October 2023, five persons were killed by suspected herdsmen at Tse Gamber, Sengev ward of Gwer-West local government area.
~ In the last quarter of the year 2023 alone, over 700 people were killed by armed herders in Gwer West, Agatu, Otukpo Guma and Kwande local government areas.
~ 1st February, 2024, Many people are feared dead in a fresh attack on the Ugboju community in the Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State.
~ 12th February, 2024, at least 13 people were killed in Adoka district of Otukpo local government area following herders’ attack on the people.
~ 23rd February 2024, no fewer than 26 people were slaughtered in Kwande local government area.
~ 7th March 2024, 17 people were killed during an attack on Wa-ndoo, a community in Mbalom, Gwer-East Local Government Area.
Governor Alia accused the people Gwer East of rustling Fulani cows as the cause of the attack.
~ 21st March 2024, seven persons were murdered in unprovoked attacks by armed herdsmen in Yongia Ukambie Tiev and Ukembrergya/Tswarev communities of Logo Local Government Area. The attackers were also said to have razed several houses in the communities and forced the locals to flee from their homes.
~ 27th March 2024, Governor Hyacinth Alia promised to ensure that a military post was established in Abaji to prevent further attacks against farmers in Anyiase, Abande, Nundugh, and other communities in Kwande Local Government Area but up till this day, he has taken no action to fulfill his promise.
~ 23rd April 2024, three persons were killed in separate attacks on their farms in Entekpa and Idabi in Otukpo local government area. One person was killed on his farm in Entekpa village before the attackers moved up to Adoka’Icho where they killed two other farmers at Idabi village.
~ 25th April, 2024, five members of the Benue State House of Assembly narrowly escaped death after they came under heavy attack by armed herdsmen at Tyo-Mu community along Makurdi-Gboko road.
~ 29th April 2024, Ten persons were killed in separate attacks in Agatu and Gwer East local government areas of Benue State.
~ 29th April 2024, five persons were murdered by armed herders in the Mbasombo Ward of Gwer East local government area.
~ 24th February 2024, three persons were killed in Agena village of Ukum. In Borikyo village also in Ukum, a graduate of Engineering was butchered by the armed herders.
~ 3rd June 2024, youths from the Asta community, a suburb of Makurdi, Benue State, blocked the road leading to Joseph Sawuan University of Agriculture in the early hours of the day, protesting against herders’ attack that left several residents injured.
~ 2nd July 2024, armed herders killed six people during an attack on Ayati village in Ukum local government area.
~ 1st October 2024, armed herders attacked the Egwuma community of the Agatu local government area killing six people including two soldiers.
~ 18th October 2024, the people of Gwer West local government area suffered another attack by armed herders along the Naka-Makurdi road, resulting in the deaths of five persons.
~ 20th October 2024, armed herdsmen shot and killed five persons at Tse Tsu Bridge on Makurdi-Naka-Federal highway, a distance of 12 km before Naka town, headquarters of Gwer West local government area.
~ 29th October 2024, three persons were killed by herdsmen at Tse Gamber, Sengev council ward in Gwer-West LGA of Benue state.
~ 31st October 2023, no fewer than 15 people were killed in an attack by armed herders at Anyiin in Logo local government area.
~ 24th November 2024, armed herdsmen killed thirteen people in Azege settlement, Tombo Ward in Logo local government area of the state. The attack was said to have occurred on Sunday morning around 7 am. It led to numerous deaths, arson, and the destruction of farmlands and other property.
It is a sad reality that in the face of all these genocidal attacks on Benue people, the Governor is not bothered and does not want anyone to even talk about the menace.
Governor Hyacinth Alia has failed the people of Benue State as far as their security is concerned! He has shown clearly that the safety of the people and their lives do not matter to him.
Only time will tell.
Complied by:
ALLIANCE FOR TRUTH AND JUSTICE (ATJ)
Signed:
Aloysius Gbakaan
President, ATJ.
