By Peter Duru, Makurdi
The recent surge in armed herdsmen attacks and killings in parts of Benue State has become a source of worry for many people. In the last one year, the state has witnessed an unprecedented level of attacks by the marauders who have turned the rural communities of the state to theatres of war.
The sad reality is that in places like Gwer West Local Government Area, LGA, the marauders have succeeded in taking over 14 out of the 15 Council Wards in the area. Most of the residents have been forced to take refuge in Naka, the Local Government Headquarters which is also under threat.
The marauders have also taken over communities in Kwande, Guma, Apa and Agatu LGAs and established their presence with herds of cattle grazing on people’s farmland.
The recent attack which claimed over 200 lives sparked global outrage compelling President Bola Tinubu to pay a condolence visit to the state and set in motion the process to ensure security of lives and property. The Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Defense Staff and the Inspector General of Police also visited to ensure peace in the state
Although Benue had been the epicentre of armed herdsmen’s activities in the last 15 years, efforts were made by successive governments to check the activities of the marauders. The eight years of the then administration of Samuel Ortom also witnessed blistering attacks across the state leading to several deaths across 20 LGAs of the state. The government at the time established over 18 Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, camps with close to two million persons displaced from their ancestral homes. Benue at the time was under the siege of armed herders who traversed the communities of the state with so much impunity, dislodging the people and leaving in their trail, devastation, tears and blood.
Worried by the spate of tragic attacks and killings by the menacing armed herders, the Benue state government at the time, in consultation with the people enacted the Benue Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of 2017. That law which prohibited Open grazing in the state met stiff opposition from the Miyetti Allah groups who vehemently objected to the law and vowed that its members would not respect it.
But determined to have the law regulating animal husbandry in the state and also have it enforced in the absence of support from the then Federal Government led by the then President Muhammadu Buhari, the administration established the Benue Livestock Guards who were trained and empowered to arrest cattle and herders who flout the law. The law coupled with the former governor’s constant meetings with stakeholders and his repeated outcry over the activities of armed herders, to a very large extent gave impetus to the struggle to end the incursions by the marauders.
Though the attacks and killings were not completely halted but the infiltration of Benue communities by herders was to a very large extent curtailed. This was followed by the arrest and confiscation of herders and their cows who strayed into the state from neighbouring states of Nasarawa, Kogi and others and made to pay fines to retrieve the seized cattle.
Given the intensity of the enforcement by the defunct Livestock Guards, it was a common sight to see herders hauling their herds in trucks from neighbouring states to other states unlike the practise in the past when the herds moved on their legs through the streets and communities of the state to neighbouring states. That practice was the order of the day and to a large extent the purpose of checking herders incursions into the state was achieved. On countless occasions the Livestock Guards recorded seizures of straying cows and their owners were made to pay fines to have them released.
When the present administration took over on May 29, 2023 it was generally expected that the momentum would be sustained. But as a new government, the administration came with its own concepts and ideas on how to check armed herders incursions, attacks and killings in the state.
It was observed that unlike the rigid stance of the previous administration and strict enforcement of the grazing law, the present administration opted for a soft approach. To that extent the provisions of the grazing law were relaxed as was attested to recently by the Governor of neighbouring Nasarawa State, Alhaji Abdullahi Sule. And what we had was the massive inflow of cattle and herders into several communities of the state from neighbouring Nasarawa State.
Unlike what obtained in the past, herders were seen all over the state struggling for space with farmers in the rural communities of the state even right in the outskirts of Makurdi town. Armed herders were also always sighted in communities moving menacingly and allowing their cattle feast on the farms of helpless farmers and those who raised their voices were mostly attacked and killed and their communities plundered.
The government unlike the one before it discarded the strategy of crying out and holding regular stakeholders meeting over the activities of the armed herders in the state which kept the world in the know of what was happening. The invaders took advantage of this and became bolder by the day. As a result of this, communities in Agatu, Guma, Apa, Otukpo, Ukum, Logo, Katsina-Ala, Makurdi, Gwer West and Buruku LGAs among others have been victims of the mayhem perpetrated by the armed herders who now seem to be on a mission to chase the people away from their ancestral homes and occupy same. Today, Benue is under siege and farmers have abandoned their farms and seeking refuge in IDPs camps and safer areas.
This was also captured by the Benue State Police Commissioner, Dr. Ifeanyi Emenari who recently visited some of the troubled communities when he declared that he visited the communities and all he saw were “farmlands without farmers and in some instances people with prohibited arms were seen around.”
Meanwhile not a few hold the view that there is the urgent need for the present administration to ensure strict enforcement of the Benue grazing law as relaxing the law created the loophole for armed herders to penetrate the state.
The lawmaker representing Apa state constituency where armed herders severally unleashed terror, Mr. Abu Umoru was among those who added his voice to the matter urging the government to emulate the immediate past administration by enforcing the grazing law to save the communities from the rampaging armed herders.
He noted that “the law went through public hearings and the people of Benue agreed that the anti open grazing law must sail. So, it is for the state government and the governor to make sure that the law is enforced. I recall that recently I heard the Governor of Nasarawa State saying that the law has been relaxed. And I believe that is why Fulani herdsmen are taking over our communities. But I do not know where the Assembly relaxed any part of the law as we speak.”
The lawmaker also advised the government that it was time to call stakeholders of the state “irrespective of political affiliation to come together, to discuss the way out of the situation otherwise Benue will be taken over by these armed bandits. And I do not think they are Fulani herdsmen any longer. It has gone beyond that.”
On his part a social commentator and Secretary of the Campaign for Equal Rights and Opportunities for all Nigerians, CERON, Mr. Francis Odiir urged Governor Alia to rethink the decision of his government to relax the strict enforcement of the state’s grazing law saying the decision allowed herders free access to the state leading to their seeking dominance and control in the communities.
According to him, “That is what has led to the rate of attacks we are witnessing presently. If you go to the communities you find these people everywhere wielding guns. And any slight provocation or even none at all, they open fire on innocent people. I will advise that the government ensure total enforcement of the grazing law. When that is done some form of sanity will start returning to the communities because they will have no choice but to start to move out”.
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