Benue State map
Nigeria: Benue Herdsmen-Locals Crisis Nears Tipping Point
The latest of the crisis between migrant Fulani-herdsmen and Benue State locals happened on the new year eve when predominantly Christian population of Logo and Guma Local Government Areas (LGA) of the state were in churches to usher in the new year. Then the herdsmen invaded five communities killing over 50 persons and leaving many others wounded.
History of the crisis is that the migrating herdsmen want to settle in the Benue communities. And the only way to do that is to displace the original settlers in the areas.
The invaders struck the unsuspecting communities from around 3:00 a.m and killed and destroyed everything on sight till around 10. am on the New Year.
The Governor of the state , Samuel Ortom, who according to Nigeria’s constitution is the Chief Security Officer of the state said he could no longer assure of security of lives and properties. Ortom said called on the Federal Government to address the crisis urgently, else, the state might be at war.
“This is not fair. This is not right, and we cannot accept it. We may continue to be law-abiding but there is a limit to how far we could go. The Federal Government must arise to this challenge and give us protection, to show that truly we are also citizens of this country.
“We are living in a country we call our own, yet this kind of thing is happening. The security agencies are aware of what you are seeing today and this is just a tip of the iceberg. What happened, from the report I have received, is far beyond what you have seen here. So many houses have been burnt. So many people have been killed. Some are still missing. Can you imagine innocent children and women being killed and their private parts removed? People were slaughtered like animals”, the governor said.
The Guardian reported that the assailants, armed with dangerous weapons, attacked a suburb of Ayilanmo and Turan in Gambe-tiev, Logo LGA, while residents were in church observing end-of-year prayers. They were said to have proceeded to Tomatar and Umenger in Guma LGA around 3:00 a.m. where they opened fire, killed some villagers and members of the state livestock guard and burnt a patrol vehicle.
Benue State is a state in the North-Central Region or mid-belt region of Nigeria with a population of about 4,253,641 in 2006 census. It is inhabited predominantly by the Tiv, Idoma and Igede peoples, who speak the Tiv language, Idoma, and Igede respectively. The Tivs comprise the Etulos while the Idomas comprise the Ufia’s (Utonkon) to Orokam at the west border of the state. There are other ethnic groups, including the Etulo, Abakwa, Jukun, Hausa, Igbo, Igala people,Akweya and Nyifon. With its capital at Makurdi, Benue is a rich agricultural region; some of the crops grown there are potatoes, cassava, soya bean, guinea corn, flax, yams, sesame, rice, and groundnuts, Palm Tree.