Benue: Unending killings, kidnappings in Nigeria’s food basket raise concerns

Killings have continued unabated in Benue State despite pledges by both the government and the security agencies to end the decades of bloodshed.

DAILY POST reports that at least 18 out of the 23 local government areas in the state have constantly come under security threats by the bloodthirsty armed attackers.

This is as bandits and herdsmen militia have been on a rampage for years in the state, launching deadly attacks on several communities almost on a daily basis.

Thousands of innocent citizens, including children, have been killed by the daredevil terrorists.

Some women have also been raped while countless unsuspecting citizens are being kidnapped for ransom.

Some of the incidents happening in remote villages are underreported.

According to reports, over 2,650 innocent citizens have been murdered in the last one year following unprovoked attacks by the non-state actors causing chaos across the state.

The Amnesty International Programme Director, Barbara Magaji, on June 26, disclosed that about 2,600 people were killed in Benue within one year.

DAILY POST reports that more than 50 people have also been killed in the last two months, with several victims abandoning their ancestral homes to squat in Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs. camps across the state.

On July 4, the bloodthirsty assailants attacked the Ayati and Borikyo communities in Ukum Local Government Area of the state, killing at least six persons.

Similarly, on June 19, more than fifteen persons were killed by suspected herdsmen following a renewed attack on Ikpele and Olegomachi villages of Agatu LGA of the state.

The suspected armed herders attacked the community in a killing spree, leaving several persons dead, while others were injured.

The local government was in the news again last week following a deadly attack on Iwari and Olegagbane communities, which left about ten persons dead.

On July 19, a few days after the incident in Agatu, gunmen suspected to be militias attacked and killed 18 persons, kidnapped three others and destroyed properties worth millions of Naira at Mbacher council ward of the Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of the state.

On August 15, 20 students of the University of Maiduguri and the University of Jos were kidnapped by gunmen in Benue state.

The students, who were travelling to Enugu State for their annual Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students (FECAMDS) Convention, were abducted in Otukpo.

They were, however, rescued by security operatives on August 23 after the Inspector-General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, deployed a tactical squad to the state.

Benue as Food Basket of the Nation

The North Central state, which was hitherto known for the cultivation of large-scale rice, cassava, yam, tomatoes, pepper, soya beans, among many other crops has been plagued with insecurity for more than a decade.

There have been arguments that the state may have lost its status of being the food basket of the nation due to the incessant attacks that displaced farmers from their ancestral homes and villages.

DAILY POST reports that over 50 percent of the farming communities in Guma, Agatu and Gwer-West Local Governments have been displaced with no access to farmlands or any means of livelihood.

It was gathered on Saturday that over 2,500,000 persons displaced by the gun-wielding criminal elements are scattered across the 14 IDP camps in five LGAs in the state.

This has significantly contributed to the hunger crisis ravaging Nigeria.

Increasing out-of-school children

According to the Benue State Ministry of Education and the Teaching Service Board, at least 55 schools have been destroyed by armed bandits or closed down due to insecurity, leaving hundreds of children out of school.

Our correspondent recalls that the state governor, Hyacinth Alia had in April this year pledged that his administration would address the menace.

The governor, who expressed the need for his administration to bequeath a peaceful environment for academic activities to thrive, said his government would not rest until the matter was resolved.

According to him, “We regret the number of Benue children who are out of school due to insecurity, my government is not resting and it is not sleeping until insecurity is wiped out from Benue State and the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, return to their ancestral homes.”

However, DAILY POST reports that the number of out-of-school children in the state has skyrocketed since the promise was made.

A source, who spoke to DAILY POST on Saturday on condition of anonymity, lamented that the security crisis has overwhelmed the current administration.

According to him, the governor is “confused” and seems to have no solution to the ugly situation.

He said, “Don’t let anyone deceive you. Alia is helpless on the issue of insecurity in Benue. He is confused. The thing is beyond him as it is right now.

“This administration will even be worse than the previous governments, especially on the issue of insecurity.

“We just pray that it doesn’t go beyond what it is now. We pray we don’t wake up one day and realize that Benue is now worse than Borno State.

“It is no longer just the issue of herdsmen attack. There are groups of militias attacking innocent people daily. The earlier the government disarmed them the better for all of us. Every terrorist organization started small.

“Let’s stop politicizing issues about people’s lives. When Governor Samuel Ortom was in power, he was mocked by the APC which was in opposition then.

“Now, Ortom is out and the APC is in power, PDP is now mocking APC. This can never bring a solution to the security crisis in Benue”.

However the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO of the Benue State command, DSP Catherine Sewuese told DAILY POST on Saturday that the situation was getting better.

According to her, operatives of the command and other security agencies had been engaging the bandits in different communities.

She said, “The security crisis is not getting worse in Benue. if you have been following events, you will hear about security agencies engaging bandits in the state.