by Alkasim Abdulkadir

In a nation already struggling to feed itself and reduce dependency on food imports, the crisis faced by farmers in Benue State is in no way a good omen for the country. 

Aside the raging insurgency in Nigeria’s North Eastern bloc, a high intensity less reported violent skirmishes is also raging in Benue State and its environs. The pockets of violence that has targeted some local governments in the state has bothered largely on the ubiquitous challenges of Fulani herdsmen in search of lush green grazing fields for their cattle and Tiv subsistence farmers toiling the earth in anticipation of bumper harvests.

Every side of the divide has tried to defend itself with its own side of the truth, but the truth remains that men, women and children have died in the ensuing violence. Husbands have lost their homemakers, wives have lost breadwinners and overnight have seen themselves as members of the traumatic ranks of widowhood and children have lost parents to become orphans. This is also aside from the millions of Naira worth of property that have been lost to the violence. There is also the perpetual veil of fear that hangs over the communities equally disturbing is the rising tide of internally displaced persons who have become helpless refugees and as every night passes, it takes away their hopes.

It is imperative for security agencies to also check the allegations that there are mercenaries involved in the massacre of Tiv villages; these notions have also been shared by the Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswan, that criminal elements with sophisticated automatic weapons that cannot be acquired by the average herdsmen have been used in the conflict. It is important that security agencies identify the actual identities of the aggressors and their motives in order to garner the right intelligence in bringing this matter to a logical conclusion. What is worrisome is the failure to check the mobility of these bandits, road blocks manned by armed soldiers can be found at almost every kilometer along the axis that is prone to the violence, yet these groups are still able to move about with unfettered access to unleash havoc on defenseless villagers.

One such incident was the attack by almost 200 belligerent fighters alleged to be Fulani herdsmen who attacked Angyom, Tse Usenda and Tse Torkula which happens to be home to the paramount ruler of Tiv land; the left in their wake not less than a 100 burnt houses, several dead and missing persons. Other areas that have continually suffered this attack are Dooga, Kpata, Ajimaka, Ekeae, Giza, Yogbo, Mbagwem, Guma, Gwer West and Agatu areas. In a nation already struggling to feed itself and reduce dependency on food imports, the crisis faced by farmers in Benue State is in no way a good omen for the country. What happens in far away Guma has effects that will reverberate in the food markets of Port Hacourt and Lagos, for the basic fact that farmers are being killed and their farmlands are being destroyed.

Several peace measures have been taken; it is time to act on the recommendations of the peace panels to bring a lasting solution to the carnage in Benue and Nasarawa States. In the meantime the mobility of the army should be increased, though the army is already overstretched with the insurgency, it won’t be out of place to employ aerial surveillance to tracking the mass movement of the armed bandits. Most importantly, the IDP’s are in need of urgent rehabilitation and resettlement –from drugs, clothing, food and shelter, they need all the support from individuals, philanthropists, states and the Federal Government in this hour of their need. The seams on these pockets of violence must be sewn now, before it conflagrates into another frontline battle axis like Maiduguri. The communities of Guma, Gwer West and Agatu must not be allowed to travel the road to Bama, Baga and Beni Sheikh in Borno state. A stitch in time…