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In this piece, JOHN CHARLES writes on the incessant conflicts between farmers and herders in Benue State and the State Government’s efforts to stem the rage
Workers of Ter Tyoshin, Chairman of Gwer West Local Government Traditional Council, HRH Daniel Abomtse, didn’t care much about the farm work they had proposed to engage in, the weather was calm and they longed to harvest some farm crops, especially guinea corn, and hoped to have full day work and to return home with a bumper harvest on this fateful day late last year.
But their hope was dashed as they approached the farm located near Mbakpa forest along Naka-Agagbe road; the workers beheld the massive destruction of both guinea corn and cassava crops ripe for harvest.
Fulani herdsmen had invaded the over 20 hectares of guinea corn and cassava farm and destroyed everything, some of the workers who saw the destruction could not hold back their tears as they wept uncontrollably.
Inspecting the level of destruction caused by the cattle the following day, the monarch said aside from cattle grazing the farms, herdsmen also used cutlasses to cut down the crops.
If the incident in Gwer West didn’t evoke sympathy because there no lives lost, then the attack on Azege village and environs in Logo Local Government Area of the state should. Some suspected Fulani herders invaded the sleepy community and environs on the Sunday morning, when the villagers were preparing for church.
Unknown to them, the agents of darkness lurked around the corner looking for whom to destroy, and pronto, most of the villagers became their victims.
Without provocation, the marauders invaded the village and environs with sophisticated arms and unleashed terror, and by the time the head of the community could send a distress call to security operatives for intervention, the armed herders had left, leaving behind their signature, the killing of over 20 people with several others critically injured.
A community leader, Joseph Anawah, said the suspected armed herders, who came in large numbers through Nasarawa State, confirmed that 20 people were, adding that it took the intervention of a military jet before the attackers were forced to retreat.
Anawah said, “There was an attack on Azege settlement and environ of Tombo Council Ward yesterday, Sunday 24th November 2024 about 7 am by Fulani herdsmen militia terrorists. They were numbering over 300 well-armed men suspected to be militia from outside Nigeria.
“They were probably hired from neighbouring countries because their appearance was slightly different from the Fulanis we have around. This invasion was carried out in the morning hours and the invaders were seen by the locals.
“The security operatives on ground were unable to repel them because of their numbers and the sophisticated weapons they had. It was not until the arrival of a military jet that they were able to subdue them.”
Barely 24 hours after, some armed herders also stormed Adabo village and Tse Gwebe settlement in Utange Council Ward, Shitile in Katsina-Ala LGA and killed more than 10 people.
These and more are the lots of farmers in the hands of suspected armed herders in Benue State, where the attacks are mostly unprovoked.
Suspected armed herders seem to have formed a chain around the state as no fewer than 18 out of the 23 LGAs of the state have continued to suffer severe attacks in the hands of the marauding herdsmen, from Guma to Logo, Katsina-Ala to Agatu, Apa to Okpokwu, from Gwer West to Makurdi, and Kwande to Tarka LGAs, it has been a harvest of deaths.
In the past, the incessant conflicts between farmers and herders escalated during the dry season when pastoralists moved from the northern part of the country to North Central, particularly, Benue, with its rich greens to compete for land to graze and get water, pasture trees and range land and in doing this, cattle encroached on farmlands and destroyed crops.
Then, both pastoralists and the host communities had conflict management mechanisms to settle some of the issues.
But the leader of the three socio-cultural groups in the state, the Mdzough U Tiv, Ochi’KIdoma and Om’Igede, retired Comptroller of Prison, Iorbee Ihagh, said that the unfolding events in the state in the past few years had eroded this as the armed herders now come to kill.
According to him, aside from the deliberate plan by the suspected armed herders, who are mostly foreigners, to annex Benue Valley and take over completely, the marauders now come into Benue communities with sophisticated arms such as AK-47, killing and maiming innocent people.
Ihagh said several communities in the state had already been taken over by the suspected armed herders and cited his Moon council ward in Kwande Local Government Area of the state that had already been taken over by the suspected armed herders.
He said, “For the past four years, my council ward had been desolate, the residents of the communities had been chased away and now occupied by Fulani marauders.
“Several public institutions, such as schools, primary health care centres, markets and people’s houses have been destroyed, even my home in my village was destroyed, and no one can access the communities in the council area.”
Also decrying the wanton destruction of lives and property in his domain, Ter Tyoshin, HRH Abomtse, expressed fear that the level of impunity with which herdsmen have been invading his council area was disheartening.
Going down memory lane, the traditional ruler said killing and maiming of innocent people in Benue communities, as well as the destruction of farm crops, had reached its breaking point if nothing was done to salvage the situation.
The monarch said that from February 8, 2011 to date, 577 people have been murdered in cold blood within his local government area, adding, “This includes the number of 67 persons killed as from January to November 23, 2024 with a frequency of 47 attacks.
“About 47 persons were permanently maimed. Several persons have been kidnapped along Naka-Makurdi Road and Naka-Agagbe Road within the period under review.
“These roads are designated as death zones, bringing economic and social activities to ground zero. Since the cropping season, cattle freely graze on crops, while security personnel remain docile.”
Both the traditional ruler and socio-cultural group leader have called on the government at all levels to protect the lives and property of the people from the hands of the marauders.
Ihagh called on President Bola Tinubu to improve the security of the people of Benue by ensuring that all armed herders who have occupied some territories in the state are driven away.
“Majority of our people are farmers but these people have taken over our lands, so the President should give the order to drive away those armed herders who come from Niger, Cameron and other neighbouring countries to allow our people return to their ancestral homes,” Ihagh said.
In his submission, the monarch called on the Federal Government to proscribe the unlawful activities of terrorists masquerading as herdsmen in the country.
Government intervention
Meanwhile, the state government reinforced the state security outfit to be able to curtail the activities of criminals, particularly, the invading armed herders in the state.
Taking a step further from his predecessor, Governor Hyacinth Alia inaugurated the state security outfit known as State Civil Protection Guards, equipped with 5,000 personnel and donations of 100 vehicles and 600 combatant motorcycles to complement the conventional security operatives in the fight against criminality, especially, terrorists masquerading as armed herders.
The immediate past governor, Samuel Ortom, had established two separate operatives through the act of parliament: the State Community Volunteer Guards and Livestock Guards, with the former to tackle insecurity in the state and the latter to implement the anti-open grazing law of the state.
According to the Special Adviser on Internal Affairs, Joseph Har, the two operatives were collapsed to form the new State Civil Protection Guards.
Har further said that the state government also engaged ex-servicemen and women from the military, police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps into the new state security outfit with the aim to instill discipline and bring about professionalism to the state security outfit.
Har said, “We have organised a workshop between the existing commanders of the formal Community Volunteer Guards and the State Livestock Guards, which have been collapsed to form the State Civil Protection Guards commanders at local government and zonal levels.
“We also have co-opted some retirees, veterans of the military, police and paramilitary to also be called commanders of the BSCPG, the essence is for them to instill that discipline that they knew over the years into the BSCPG.
“You know that operatives of the Benue State Civil Protection Guard are not formally trained, the training they got was minimal but they need more experience and support from these veterans both in tactics and professionalism to become a formidable force in the state.”
While inaugurating the new security outfit Benue State Civil Protection Guards, Governor Alia said the outfit was established by law to complement the efforts of conventional security apparatus in the state.
He explained that the establishment of the security outfit reinforced his administration’s commitment to ensuring the security of the people of the state
He said, “The goal is to decisively combat criminality and create an environment where our people can live, farm, work, and thrive without fear.
“The formal launch of the 5,000 gallant officers of the Benue State Civil Protection Guards, the donation of vehicles and special combatant motorcycles, as well as the unveiling of the Operation ‘Anyam Nyor’ Joint Security Task Force, represents a decisive step forward in ensuring the safety and security of our people.
“It is my firm belief that with these initiatives, we are not only reinforcing our commitment to safeguarding lives and property but also sending a clear message that the fight against insecurity in Benue State is won already.”
The governor charged the 5,000 personnel to uphold the safety and security of the communities and to embody the highest standards of professionalism and ethics in the discharge of their duties.
“Your role is critical to the success of our security initiatives, and I am confident that you will rise to the occasion,” the governor said.
Alia, however, appreciated President Tinubu for what he described as “unwavering support to the good people of Benue State.”
“His consistent concern for the security of Nigerians is commendable, and we are grateful for the assistance his administration continues to provide in strengthening the security apparatus in our state,” the governor said.
Chairman, Council of Chiefs and Traditional Rulers in the state, His Royal Majesty, Prof James Ayatse, the Tor Tiv, who decried the raging criminality in the state, lamented that several traditional rulers had lost their lives to insecurity.
He called on traditional rulers in the state to be on the frontline of working closely with the security operatives to tackle insecurity in the state, just as he commended the state government for the massive intervention with the provision of vehicles and motorcycles, which he said would help security operatives to access the hinterlands.
However, the question being asked by the residents is how far can this effort go through without the operatives allowed to bear arms.
A community leader in Agatu LG, Solomon Onah, opined that the efforts of the state government could be fruitful when the Federal Government grants state security operatives to carry arms, thus the call for the establishment of state police to be able to tackle insecurity confronting the country, nay, Benue.
Onah said, “This is not the first time we are seeing state governors launching security operatives to complement the conventional security apparatus in the country.
“We all know when Amotekun in the South West was reigning, similarly, the immediate past governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, launched the Community Volunteer Guards, all were established for a purpose, to combat insecurity in their respective states.
“But what has happened? I don’t know, because the Federal Government has yet to allow these security operatives to carry arms, until that is done, I pray that the efforts of our state government will not be in vain.
“This is the reason the Federal Government and all the states should join hands and support the creation of state police in the country.”
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