JOHNSON BABAJIDE writes on the unending armed herders’ attacks on Benue communities and the resulting effects, revealing that for more than six years, thousands of people have been living in IDP camps with no end in sight to the influx of more displaced persons.
On February 15, this year, a group of farmers, numbering about 16 were returning to their village in Mbaduwa, Kwande Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State after a hard day’s work, but they never got home. They were ambushed by suspected armed herders, killed and their bodies thrown into River Katsina Ala along Kashimbila Road.
Farmers in Benue State had adopted the idea of group farming in their geographical environment to escape the rampaging marauders who have turned major parts of Benue into an epicentre of killings.
Even moving from one community to another, as long as it is within the distance of a few metres, must be done in groups to escape the wrath of suspected Fulani herders who have taken over the vast lands within the state.
The idea was conceived by rural dwellers with the belief that they could escape the armed herders who always laid ambush to kill and maim innocent people while working on their farms or moving to a nearby village market.
As good as this idea was, several people have been caught down in their prime, among them were those 16 farmers whose bodies were thrown into the river after they were mercilessly butchered by their assailants.
Few weeks after, precisely on March 31, a 54-year-old farmer in Usha community of Agatu LGA, who left his house hale and hearty, decided to visit his farm. Approaching the farm, a group of five young men raised an alarm and shouted, “Fulani! Fulani!” Pronto, the old farmer in panic took to his heels to escape the purported alarm and ran back to the village.
Unfortunately, few metres away, he was reported to have slumped and died instantly. The panic was as a result of heightened tension in the community following an incident where cows were allegedly poisoned earlier by a farmer from the same community.
The above instances have been the lot of the people of Benue State, particularly the farmers, who have lost their lives nearly on a daily basis.
From Otukpo to Kwande, from Logo to Guma, from Gwer East to Apa, from Naka to Ukum, the story is the same.
Going by the statistics provided by a group known as ‘Benue Democratic Ambassadors’ which has chronicled the armed herders’ attacks on Benue communities in the past few months, it submitted that about 20 out of the 23 LGAs of the state were under siege.
The group under the leadership of Daniel Pila recently said, “Benue is under siege as no place is safe in the state, including Makurdi, the capital city. From Otukpo to Agatu, Gwer-West to Kwande, Makurdi to Ukum, Gwer-East to Katsina-ala, Guma to Logo, nowhere is safe as herdsmen have taken over at least 20 out of the 23 local governments that Benue has.”
Only recently, precisely June 1, priests of the Catholic church in Makurdi diocese, under the aegis of ‘Nigerian Catholic Diocesan Priests Association, Makurdi Diocese,’ at a press conference held at the cathedral located along Makurdi/Naka road, decried the activities of the suspected armed herders in the state and submitted that 15 Catholic parishes within the diocese have been closed down and parishioners now take refuge at Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps scattered across the state.
Chairman of the association, Rev Fr Joseph Beba, who lamented the devastating effects of the incessant killings said, “As I talk to you, over 15 parishes in Makurdi diocese have been closed down as a result of armed herders invasion and three priests wounded.
“One of the priests is Rev Fr Solomon Atongo, who was attacked by suspected armed herders on his way to Naka from Jiba. He is currently receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital.”
It should be noted that there are four Catholic dioceses in Benue namely: the Catholic dioceses of Makurdi, Gboko, Katsina Ala and Otukpo.
Efforts to ascertain the number of churches that have been closed down in the state following the rampaging armed herders’ attacks have not yielded much success as the vice chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Jonathan Ngbede, said that only the blocs could provide accurate data.
However, the state chairman of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Timothy Kume, when asked about the number of churches that the bloc (CPFN/PFN) has lost to suspected marauders within 2025 said that the union was still collating the figure. “You know that these killings happen every day,” he said.
Checks from media reports revealed that at least 365 people have been killed in the state as a result of invasion by armed terrorists, so far this year.
To worsen the situation, the whole state seems to have been encircled by these armed terrorists. Many of the routes linking the state have been taken over, except the federal highway from Nasarawa State linking the state capital, Makurdi.
For instance, the road from Taraba connecting Benue North East senatorial district has become a hell for road users. The route linking Enugu with the state through Benue South senatorial district is notorious for kidnapping and killings, while from Ankpa in Kogi State linking Benue through Adoka and Gwer West to Makurdi, the capital city, is the worst hit. Commuters have long abandoned this route due to incessant killings and kidnappings.
The situation was so bad that the Gwer West local government chairman, Victor Ominn, had to impose a curfew within the council. According to him, “Movement of people coming to the council and going out of the local government has been restricted to 6:30 pm.”
Despite the curfew, the marauders invaded four major communities in the council: Tse Orbiam, Aondona, Ahume and lately Naka, headquarters of the council, from May, 24, 25 and June 1, where a mobile policeman and 59 people were mercilessly murdered by the armed herders within one week.
The persistent attacks have already taken their toll, on other activities in the state. For instance, earlier this year, Benue State Coordinator of National Youth Service Corps, Mrs Veronica Garba, through the organisation’s Public Relations Officer, Yahuza Adamu announced that the organisation has withdrawn corps members from a volatile Mbaa community in Kwande LGA due to incessant armed herders’ attacks. Since then, the service no longer post corps members to the troubled community.
Also, the Commissioner for Education, Rev Dr Frederick Ikyaan confirmed that some schools have been shut down in some local government areas due to incessant attacks by the armed terrorists.
He said, “I can confirm to you that many schools have been affected due to Fulani herdsmen attacks in Logo, Guma, Gwer West, Apa, Katsina Ala, Kwande and some other councils.
“In fact, we are contemplating to relocate some JSS students from the recent attack on some councils to safer places for their external examinations.”
When asked to provide numbers of schools affected, the commissioner said he did not have the figure offhand and promised to update them and get back. But as of the time of filing this report, he was yet to make it available.
The latest attacks in Gwer West and Apa in the past two weeks have raised serious concerns about the commitment of government at various levels to secure lives and property of the people.
Internally Displaced Persons call for more assistance
Benue State Emergency Management Agency (BSEMA) while distributing relief materials to internally displaced persons last Thursday disclosed that over 18,000 individuals have been displaced as a result of latest attacks on Gwer West LG communities.
The breakdown shows the following: Households- 4,648, Individuals- 18,592, Women- 8,650
Men – 4,147, Children – 5,795, Pregnant Women – 325, Lactating Mothers – 637, Persons With Disability -1,315 and Elderly -571
While the number of IDPs in the state is growing on daily basis, many have been languishing in IDP camps for the past six years and counting.
There are no fewer than 14 IDP camps located in the state while other displaced people are reported to be living with their relatives and engaged in menial jobs to eke out a living.
One of the displaced persons who has spent closed to seven years in one of the IDP camps at Agagbe in Gwer West LGA, Terna Ibaah, has this to say: “I have been an inmate in one of the five locations in Agagbe camp for the past six years. Life in an IDP camp is miserable and hell on earth.”
Ibaah stated that the IDP camp in Agagbe registers new inmates nearly on daily basis due to the incessant attacks on communities.
He said, “There are five locations in Agagbe camp and this is as a result of influx of people to the camp. We receive new people on a daily basis. Life in the IDP camp is worse than in a prison.
“I have been living in the IDP camp in Agagbe for the past six years. Many of our women go out to engage in menial jobs while the men make use of nearby land in Agagbe town to do farming to complement what the state government and people donate to the camp.”
He added that many of the male inmates who attempted to go back to their ancestral homes to farm were killed by armed herders who have taken over their communities.
While decrying the overpopulation of the IDP camp, Ibaah said, “The unfortunate thing is the little children who do not have any shelter to lay their heads. All the blocks have filled up. These new IDPs only sleep on their wrapper because they don’t have sleeping mats or mattresses unlike those of us who have been here for more than eight years.”
Also speaking, a female IDP inmate from Agagbe who identified herself as Ugba-Kpa-Nyir, stated that she and her three kids aged three, five and seven, came to the camp three weeks ago after armed herders ransacked their village and killed seven people, including her husband.
Speaking in her local language, Mrs Nyir said, “We left our village with nothing after herders attacked on the first Saturday of May. Seven people were killed, including my husband.
“The whole community has been taken over by armed herders. At the time we arrived at the camp there was nothing with me aside from my three children. We rely on old inmates to survive.
“On some days, I eat only once a day, but the old inmates have been taking care of my children and allowing them to sleep indoors while I sleep under mango trees.”
Leader of the three pan-sociocultural groups in Benue State, Mdzou U Tiv, Ochetoaka’Kidoma and Omn’Igede, who is a retired Comptroller of Prisons, Iorbee Ihagh, called on the Federal Government to redouble its efforts to ensure the security of life and property of people of the state.
He called on President Bola Tinubu to give a marching order to army chiefs to send the armed herders out of the state, and expressed hope that the recent visit of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Olufemi Oloyede, would have a positive impact on the state.
“I have been saying this, and I will continue to say it, let the president give a marching order to security chiefs, particularly army chiefs, to embark on clearing operations and rid the state of these intruders who have come to take over our lands.
“I hope the visit of Chief of Army Staff to Benue earlier this week will be a soothing balm to our situation,” Ihagh said.
READ ALSO: Some religious leaders fueling Benue crisis — Alia
and then