Benue Professionals ask Gov Alia, DSS, Military to end Killings

By Andrew Oota

Professionals from Benue state under the aegis of ONTIV Professionals have petitioned the Chief of Defence, Inspector General of Police , Director General of Department of State Service , National Security Advisor and the Benue State Governor on the continued attacks and killings of innocent citizens of Benue state.

The group in a statement by its National President Engineer Abraham Aku asked the relevant institutions to halt the killings to avoid a resort to self help.

The association called on the Benue State Governor to break his silence and protect the innocent people of the state as required by the 1999 constitution as amended .

It called on the Governor to equally activate the full implementation of the Anti-Open Grazing law.

The statement further said,”We write as a group of concerned non partisan organization to draw your attention and your esteemed office to the persistent, brutal and unwarranted attacks and killings of the helpless people of Benue State by the suspected Fulani herdsmen.

“Recall that, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), in Section 33(1), guarantees the right to life for every citizen. This right is protected, and no one can be intentionally deprived of their life, except in cases where they have been found guilty of a criminal offense by a court in Nigeria and are sentenced to death.

“This section of the constitution further provides as quoted, “every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria”.

“The heinous activities of these marauding herdsmen in the state have clearly contravene the provisions of the constitution.

“Their activities have over the years claimed several lives, destroyed homes, properties and farm produce worth billions of naira.

The effect of their activities has equally destroyed both the economy and sources of livelihood of many families, affected communities and the entire state.”.

The professional mainatined that,”Sadly, Benue, like many other states in Nigeria, these suspected armed Fulani herdsmen and their terror now wears a common face. What was once framed as “herder-farmer clashes” has become a full-blown system of armed militia invasion, mass murder, displacement, and economic siege driven by actors widely identified as marauding suspected Fulani herdsmen, but armed and organized far beyond any pastoral tradition.

“Recent attacks by the suspected Fulani herdsmen on this communities, Benue the heart of Nigeria’s agricultural strength has been turned into a theatre of horror.

“The suspected armed Fulani herdsmen have been operating with impunity, overrunning communities, killing innocent civilians, abducting women and children, and displacing millions into camps unfit for human dignity. But these are not isolated incidents. They are orchestrated acts of terror, occurring in places like Sankera, Kwande, Guma, Buruku, Logo, Makurdi, Agatu and Otukpo local governments as well as many other communities in the state which, locals have confirmed by their diction to be indigenous Fulanis who may be collaborating with their foreign militias.

“We also want to draw your attention to the fact that these atrocities are not accidental. They are systematic, premeditated, and enabled by apparent failing state security apparatus. The perpetrators are emboldened by a vacuum of leadership, a dysfunctional security system”.

They added ,”The entire Kwande, Ukum, Logo, Katsina Ala, Buruku, Agatu Otukpo, Guma, Gwer West and Gwer East local government areas have come under heavy attacks by these heartless killers. The remaining surviving residents have fled their ancestral lands and are taking refuge in other parts of the state that have not come under severe attacks by the Fulani herdsmen.

“In the most recent deadly attacks on communities in Kwande, Ukum, Logo and Katsina Ala local governments, it was reported that over 300 lives of innocent citizens were wasted with property worth billions of naira destroyed.

The gory situation is replicate across the state.

“Also, in the attacks on Otobi-Akpa community in Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State, no fewer than 11 bodies have been so far recovered after they had left.

The sad incident was confirmed by the lawmaker representing Otukpo/Akpa State Constituency in the Benue State House of Assembly, Hon. Agbo Kennedy, to Channels TV’s Morning Brief on Wednesday 15th April, 2025. He reported that 11 bodies were so far been recovered, with search operations still ongoing.

“The pattern is similar in a coordinated manner in all the affected communities.

They come in the midnights while residents are in their sleep, open fire on homes and attack innocent people.

“To worsen the situation, these groups have now turned kidnapping for ransom into a nationwide industry of terror. The highways of Benue are hijacked, homes raided, schools emptied, markets targeted, farms and crops are been destroyed daily. Nowhere is safe.

From the farms of Guma local government to Agatu local government, from the waterways of Guma – Buruku to the suburbs of Otukpo, the pattern is the same. Same method. Same targets. Same identity. Same brutality.

“No region or state in this country has cried longer, harder, and more helplessly than the Middletbelt and Benue in particular. Our lands have been turned into graveyards. Our people’s harvests are been destroyed, our daughters and women violated, our sons tortured, the old who cannot escape are beheaded.

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“Our people are agonizing. They are crying. They are the most wailing people in this country today. These defenceless communities are yet to get commensurate national response.They are betrayed by the government whose duty it is to protect them.

“OnTiv Professionals Association, Abuja, (OPA) are confident that these are not just herders but a Fulani militia group with a predetermined agenda against Benue State and the entire Benue valley. Survivals have confirmed that these are tactically coordinated militias, wielding military-grade weapons—AK-47s, AK49s, RPGs, drones, GPMGs and well-sophisticated weapons and tools.

“Are these criminals being sponsored from outside or protected from within?

” Where is the President, Commander-in-Chief and what is he doing even as Nigerian citizens are butchered like animals?

“Where is the National Assembly while an entire region bleeds?

” Where are the so-called elder statesmen, religious leaders and voices of conscience?

“The Federal Government should as a matter of urgency, identify, arrest and prosecute the marauding, rampaging Fulani militias attacking our communities.

“We request for deployment of Special Forces and Surveillance Technology, including drones, to root out and neutralize these terror cells with surgical precision.

“The Federal Government should set up a specific compensation and resettlement program for victims and displaced persons of Benue State.

“The Federal Government should as a matter of urgency declare Fulani herdsmen a terrorist group and deploy adequate state resources to reign them in.

“Let it be known that the law abiding and unarmed citizens of Benue State are relying on your good office to take note of the aforementioned and act accordingly in order not to allow the people revolt and resort to self help”.