shattered

In this piece, JOHN CHARLES reports the security situation in Benue State with a call on the government, both state and federal, to restore peace in the troubled state

Terfa Orkaha is a 24-year-old man. He was born at Tse Maihewa in Mbabuade council ward in the Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue State and had three siblings. Growing up was fantastic, at least with a communal style of living in the sleepy community, he had a dream to become a medical doctor when he grew up.

To fulfil this dream, his father,  Orkaha, enrolled him in a public primary school, a short distance from their village.

“My love for the medical profession started when I was asked to stay with my uncle who was sick and admitted at the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, about eight years ago.

“This happened during the long vacation, so, every day, I saw these people (medical doctors) with their telescopes hung on their necks attending to my uncle. They looked neat and their gentle approach to issues attracted me to the profession. We spent about 10 days in the hospital. Luckily, my uncle bounced back to life as we returned to the village,” he said.

Unfortunately for Terfa, his dream seems to have been dashed, following the invasion of his village by armed herders about seven years ago. His parents and uncle were victims of the attack, as they were murdered during the attack.

Since then, Terfa and siblings, including the mother, have taken refuge at St Francis Xavier internally displaced persons camp in Agagbe, the Gwer West LGA of the state.

Since their forced relocation to the Agagbe IDP camp, the lot had fallen on him to cater to his siblings and mother and this he had been doing by engaging in farming activities outside the camp.

Sadly, on June 30, 2024, he, alongside his younger brother, aged 16 and others were returning from their farms when they were attacked by suspected armed herders. Though he survived the attack, his younger brother, Terkende Orkaha, was not lucky, as he was shot dead alongside two other people by the suspected armed herders.

Narrating his story, he said the attackers ambushed them close to the NKST Church at Tse Nyamti on their return from the farm.

“We were caught unaware by these gunmen. Everyone ran in different directions. While I followed the direction towards Agagbe town, those killed faced where we were coming from. Unfortunately, the armed herders concentrated on those who were running back and shot them.

“Three people were killed and my younger brother, Terkende, was one of them,” he said as tears rolled down his face.

To Terfa, actualising his dream is now a mirage. What is uppermost in his heart is to once again return to his ancestral home and have peace of mind to continue with farming and raising the family.

When asked if he has let go of his dream, Terfa said, “The last time I went to school was seven years ago. I was in Senior Secondary School when the armed herders sacked our village and killed my father and uncle. I doubt if this brain can cope with academic activities again.”

Not only the poor lament in Benue, but the rich are also crying.

A community leader, Joseph Anawah, for the past seven years, had not been able to step foot in his village in Logo LGA of the state but instead took refuge in the trado-political seat of Tiv land (Gboko). He decried the insecurity in the state and its effects on the people.

Anawah, an aide to a former governor of the state, Gabriel Suswam (between 2007 and 2015), lamented the pains of losing blood relatives and being cut out of his comfort zone, his ancestral homes.

“I lost more than 100 relations, very close to me, to Fulani herders. There was a time when they invaded my settlement at Chembe, out of the 43 people killed in just one night, 23 of them were my blood relatives.

“Taking care of these people has become a great burden to me, paying for children’s school fees, some of them are living in my house at Anyiim and others staying with me here in Gboko. This has drained me. I have no option but to face the burden headlong.

Anawah added, “I built a beautiful house in my village but it’s overgrown with weeds now. I cannot step into the village. Many of us have become slaves because to leave your house for over seven years, no matter how comfortable the place is, you will not be happy.”

These and others are the pains and agonies of the majority of the population of Benue people, from Agatu to Ukum, from Guma to Ado and other parts of the state as they faced insecurity daily.

While armed herders are on the rampage in one part of the state, local bandits are unleashing terror in another part of the state. Indeed, Benue has been turned into the epicentre of the battle.

Amnesty International, a few weeks ago in Makurdi, submitted that no fewer than 2,600 people, mostly women and children, were killed between January 2023 and February 2024 in over 50 communities.

The Program Manager in Nigeria, Barbara Magaji, during a presentation of the research findings on the attacks in Benue State, said the incursions left hundreds displaced, some wounded, raped and others kidnapped.

She said, “50 rural communities in the state recorded at least 135 attacks leading to the deaths of over 2,600 people, many of whom are women and children. This has left hundreds displaced, wounded, raped and others kidnapped.”

According to her, “Benue State has 23 LGAs, of which 18 have been affected by insecurity and face continuous attacks by armed attackers.

The situation in the Sankera axis, which comprises three local government areas, Ukum, Katsina-Ala and Logo, has become alarming, with an increasing rate of kidnapping and killings daily.

Before now, the axis was in a firm grip of the late Terwase Akwaza aka Gana, who was killed by the military about four years ago. Instead of a sigh of relief following the killing of the bandit kingpin, the crisis in this axis had assumed dangerous dimensions.

The strong lieutenants of Gana, such as ‘Full Fire, Chaine and  Anginokwu, have raised their armies and now terrorising the axis.

Full Fire was said to be responsible for the N20m levy imposed on the Torough community in the Ukum Local Government Area of the state recently. Having received the money, further checks revealed that he also taxed the whole local government area of N100m or they would face his wrath.

The chairman of Ukum Local Government Area, Victor Iorzaa, who confirmed the N20m levy, could not be reached for the new tax of N100m imposed on the local government.

Further information also disclosed that the curfew imposed on the area doused tension of forcing the local government to pay the new levy.

Sources in the area argued that Chaine, who also controls his boys, is the archenemy of Full Fire, adding that “anytime you hear that the two bandits engaged each other in a supremacy battle, it is between Chaine and Full Fire.

Locals in the area informed our correspondent that the Agingowu group specialises mostly in kidnapping within the axis.

Some commentators argued that the reason for such brazen attacks on the axis by the bandits was the result of a conspiracy of silence among the people in the area.

A community leader, however, punctured the argument, saying that several people, including traditional rulers, had been killed for correcting the bandits.

Anawah submitted that two traditional rulers in Katsina-Ala and Ukum LGAs were killed by the bandits for condemning their activities.

“There were traditional rulers who were killed especially in Katsina-Ala and Ukum LGAs because the bandits saw them as being against them.

“The one killed in Katsina-Ala was because he made a speech at a burial ceremony condemning their (bandits) activities. The next morning they went to his house and killed him.

“Another in Ukum LGA because he was seen hosting a faction of the bandits, the other faction felt that the traditional ruler was on the side of its enemy, so they also killed him.

“The general fear is that the traditional rulers are afraid to talk about the activities of the bandits because if you make a speech against them, the next day they will come and attack you.”

During the latest killing in Ukum which led to violent protests and destruction of personal and government properties, the district head of Borikyo ward claimed that he lost his wife and two children to the attack.

The traditional ruler, Joseph Unongo, who briefed the Deputy Governor, Sam Ode, when he visited to assess the level of destruction caused by the violence, said his wife and two children were burnt inside his house during the violence.

Anawah, however, accused the government of not doing enough at all levels. According to him, many displaced persons across the state had been in camps for the past seven years.

“If the government is doing enough, we would have returned to our ancestral homes, We have become slaves in our state because we have left our homes for over seven years,” the community leader said.

Also speaking, the leader of the three socio-cultural groups in the state, Mdzough U Tiv,  Nyi-’ Igede and Okiha’Kidoma, a retired Comptroller of Prison, Iorbee Ihagh, condemned the insecurity in the state, particularly, at the Sankera axis.

He identified some areas such as Moon in Kwande LGA, Sankera axis and Agatu LGA where it would be extremely difficult for people to move freely due to the activities of armed herders.

While appreciating Governor Hyacinth Alia for the proactive steps taken to tackle insecurity in the state, the pan-sociocultural group leader called on President Bola Tinubu to give orders to service chiefs to drive foreign armed herders away from the country.

He also appealed to youths in the Sankara axis to sheathe their swords and embrace the hands of fellowship extended to them by the state governor.

The Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Matthew Abo, who described the insecurity in the Sankera axis as “alarming,” said the governor was not resting on his oars to ensure that peace returned fully to all parts of the state.

“The Benue State Governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia, is not leaving any stone unturned to ensure that peace is restored to every part of the state.

“Unfortunately, insecurity in the Sankera axis is taking on an alarming dimension, but the governor is on top of it. As I am talking to you now, I am in Zaki Biam (headquarters of Ukum LGA) attending to security issues and the state government has deployed a lot of security personnel in this area to combat insecurity.

“Yesterday, we were in Katsina-Ala where traditional rulers held a meeting with their illustrious sons and we took some decisions that will help to solve the security situation,” he said.

Abo, who hails from Ukum LGA, said the state government had procured more vehicles and provided other logistics to security men to ease their job.

The spokesperson for the state police command, Catherine Anene, said a lot of operations were ongoing in several parts of the state, just as she dismissed the insinuation that security operatives were helpless in tackling insecurity in the state.

“We are not helpless but you should know that police do not have enough personnel to cover the whole state, a reason we keep cautioning people to give priority to their security. Security should not be left in the hands of policemen alone,” she said.

The PPRO, however, attributed the socioeconomic situation of the country to the rise in insecurity but submitted that the command was clamping down on criminals.

“So many suspects have been arrested and charged to court,” she concluded.