When President Bola Tinubu visited Makurdi, the Benue State capital, on Wednesday to meet with stakeholders over the wave of bloodshed sweeping through Benue State, he was welcomed not just by grieving citizens but also by a demand for clarity: What exactly is behind the killings?
For years, much of the violence in Nigeria’s Middle Belt has been brushed off as a product of farmer-herder clashes, an old, oversimplified explanation for a crisis that has grown more complex and deadlier with time.
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But the testimonies of local leaders, the pattern of the attacks, and even denials from Fulani representatives, explored by EKO HOT BLOG, are all pointing in another direction. This is no longer about grazing rights or trampled crops; it is about coordinated and premeditated assaults.
A Royal Rebuke of the “Clash” Narrative
At the heart of this re-evaluation is the Tor Tiv V, His Royal Majesty James Ayatse. During Wednesday’s meeting with President Tinubu, the revered traditional ruler rejected the longstanding narrative that the violence stems from communal disputes between farmers and herders.
“We do have grave concerns about the misinformation and misrepresentation of the security crisis in Benue State,” the monarch said. “Your Excellency, it’s not herders-farmers clashes, it’s not communal clashes, it’s not reprisal attacks or skirmishes.”
Instead, Ayatse described the violence as a “calculated, well-planned, full-scale genocidal invasion and land grabbing campaign by herder terrorists and bandits,” asserting that any attempts to frame the crisis otherwise would only result in “wrong diagnosis” and, therefore, “wrong treatment.”
Governor Alia Blames Targeted Attacks, Not Clashes for the Benue killings
Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia, who has presided over a grim procession of mass burials and displaced communities, reinforced this view in a televised interview with Arise News.
According to him, the attackers who recently struck the Yelewata community came heavily armed, infiltrated through a nearby river, and first targeted military and police checkpoints before unleashing violence on civilians.
“It lasted for two hours,” Governor Alia recounted. “They came in numbers. The first effort was to go attack the military and police… They were pushed back and now they are moving towards Lafia, Nasarawa State.”
Alia’s account not only reveals the sophistication and coordination of the assaults, it also makes it hard to reconcile such actions with spontaneous farmer-herder disputes.
Even Fulani Leaders Deny the “Farmer-Herder Clash” Framing
On Monday, one of the Fulani community leaders in Yelewata, Benue, Baba Othman Ngelzarma, told the BBC that his people were not behind the killings in Benue.
“Our people are not behind the Benue killings. We know there are some unresolved issues in Benue which have been there for some time.
“But we have never allowed any of our people to attack or kill others,” he said.
Ironically, the same BBC report that carried the denial still framed the conflict as a “violent conflict between herders and farmers”.
“The authorities have not blamed any group but it is safe to assume that there are lots of victims on both sides, as any attack usually leads to revenge and then a cycle of violence,” the report says, suggesting that there were “both sides” in the massacre.
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There is no evidence that “farmer-herder clashes” caused the killings in Benue and other places in the Middle Belt. There is a growing consensus among local stakeholders that these are terrorist attacks, not mere clashes.
Philip Ibitoye is a Special Correspondent with EKO HOT BLOG. Click here to find daily analysis and critical insight on trending issues in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria.
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