How One Policy Decision Turned Benue Into a Killing Field
Exclusive Investigation TheDailyCourierNG
Inside the policy reversal that opened the floodgates to unprecedented violence and displaced millions
In the rural communities of Benue State, a chilling reality has taken hold: 14 out of 15 council wards in Gwer West Local Government Area are now under the control of armed herders. The few remaining residents have fled to Naka, the local government headquarters, which itself teeters on the brink of being overrun.
This isn’t just another story about farmer-herder clashes. This is the devastating consequence of what happens when a government abandons proven security strategies in favor of a “soft approach” that has turned an entire state into a war zone.
The numbers tell a horrifying story. Over 200 people were brutally murdered in the recent attack that finally forced President Bola Tinubu to visit the state. But this massacre represents just the latest chapter in a security collapse that has been building since May 2023, when a critical policy decision changed everything.
The question everyone is asking: How did Benue go from relative stability to complete chaos in less than two years?
The answer lies in a tale of two governors, two different approaches to the same problem, and the deadly consequences of choosing diplomacy over enforcement when dealing with armed militants.
For eight years under former Governor Samuel Ortom, Benue State was indeed the epicenter of herder-farmer conflicts. The statistics were staggering: attacks across all 20 local government areas, over 18 Internally Displaced Persons camps established, and close to two million people forced from their ancestral homes. Armed herders moved through communities “with so much impunity, dislodging the people and leaving in their trail, devastation, tears and blood.”
But Ortom’s administration made a decision that changed the game entirely: they fought back.
In 2017, despite fierce opposition from Miyetti Allah groups who “vehemently objected to the law and vowed that its members would not respect it,” Benue enacted the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law. More importantly, they created the Benue Livestock Guards – a specialized force trained and empowered to arrest cattle and herders who violated the law.
The results were dramatic. While attacks didn’t stop completely, the infiltration of Benue communities was “to a very large extent curtailed.” Herders began hauling their cattle in trucks through neighboring states rather than marching them on foot through Benue communities. The Livestock Guards regularly seized straying cattle, and owners paid fines to retrieve them. The message was clear: Benue would not be a soft target.
Then everything changed on May 29, 2023.
The new administration of Governor Hyacinth Alia came to power with what they called “new concepts and ideas” for dealing with the herder crisis. Instead of Ortom’s rigid enforcement, they chose a “soft approach.” The provisions of the grazing law were relaxed – a decision that even the Governor of neighboring Nasarawa State, Alhaji Abdullahi Sule, publicly acknowledged.
The consequences were immediate and catastrophic.
What followed was “the massive inflow of cattle and herders into several communities of the state from neighboring Nasarawa State.” Armed herders appeared throughout the state, “struggling for space with farmers in the rural communities” and moving “menacingly” while allowing their cattle to destroy helpless farmers’ crops. Those who complained were “mostly attacked and killed and their communities plundered.”
Unlike the previous administration, which held regular stakeholder meetings and constantly publicized herder activities to maintain international attention, the new government adopted a quieter approach. The invaders took advantage of this silence and “became bolder by the day.”
The transformation has been devastating. Communities across Agatu, Guma, Apa, Otukpo, Ukum, Logo, Katsina-Ala, Makurdi, Gwer West, and Buruku local government areas have fallen victim to what appears to be a systematic campaign to “chase the people away from their ancestral homes and occupy same.”
Benue State Police Commissioner Dr. Ifeanyi Emenari captured the apocalyptic reality during a recent visit to troubled communities: he found “farmlands without farmers and in some instances people with prohibited arms were seen around.” Farmers have abandoned their lands and are seeking refuge in IDP camps and safer areas.
The political response has been swift and unforgiving. Lawmaker Abu Umoru, representing the besieged Apa state constituency, didn’t mince words: “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.”
Umoru went further, suggesting the threat has evolved beyond traditional herder-farmer conflicts: “I do not think they are Fulani herdsmen any longer. It has gone beyond that.” The implication is chilling – what Benue faces may be organized armed groups using cattle as cover for territorial conquest.
Social commentator Francis Odiir of the Campaign for Equal Rights and Opportunities for all Nigerians was even more direct in his assessment. The government’s decision to relax enforcement “allowed herders free access to the state leading to their seeking dominance and control in the communities.” He described a landscape where “you find these people everywhere wielding guns. And any slight provocation or even none at all, they open fire on innocent people.”
The contrast between the two administrations couldn’t be starker. Ortom’s approach was confrontational, noisy, and often criticized as inflammatory. But it worked. Herders knew they faced consequences for violations, and the international community remained aware of Benue’s struggles.
Alia’s approach prioritized dialogue and de-escalation. The intention was noble – to reduce tensions through diplomacy rather than enforcement. But the result has been catastrophic. By signaling that Benue would no longer aggressively enforce its anti-grazing laws, the government inadvertently invited the very chaos it sought to prevent.
The lesson emerging from Benue’s tragedy is uncomfortable but clear: when dealing with armed groups willing to use violence to achieve their objectives, soft power has deadly limitations.
The policy reversal represents more than a change in tactics – it reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the threat. These aren’t traditional herders seeking pasture for their cattle. They’re armed groups using systematic violence to displace entire communities and seize territory.
President Tinubu’s visit to Benue following the latest massacre, accompanied by the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Defense Staff, and Inspector General of Police, suggests the federal government finally recognizes the scale of the crisis. But the question remains whether they understand that the solution requires not just military intervention, but a return to the enforcement mechanisms that previously kept the violence in check.
The residents of the 14 overrun wards in Gwer West Local Government Area didn’t lose their homes to a natural disaster or economic collapse. They lost them to a policy decision that prioritized accommodation over enforcement, dialogue over deterrence.
As lawmakers and civil society groups now call for an urgent return to strict enforcement of the grazing law, the Alia administration faces a stark choice: continue the soft approach that has failed so catastrophically, or acknowledge that some threats require firm responses backed by credible enforcement.
The cost of the current policy has been measured in hundreds of lives, millions of displaced people, and entire communities under siege. The question is whether the government will act before that cost becomes too high to bear.
For the families huddled in Naka, watching armed herders approach their last refuge, time is running out. Their survival may depend on whether their government finally understands that in the face of organized violence, being soft isn’t compassionate – it’s complicit.
DEVELOPING STORY: TheDailyCourierNG continues monitoring the security situation in Benue State and government response to mounting calls for policy changes.
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