The spate of gunmen violence in Nigeria’s food basket, Benue state, is not spoken about enough. Every day, rural communities are attacked by gunmen. The aftermath of the attacks is piles of dead bodies, maimed victims, deserted homes and destroyed livelihoods. The attacks have been on the increase since 2021. In the last quarter of 2020, about 13 people were killed in four attacks in Benue state. In the first quarter of 2021, 149 persons died in 15 incidents, according to Nextier SPD database. In May 2021, the Governor of Benue state, Samuel Ortom, encouraged the people to defend themselves against unwarranted attacks. The call signalled ineffectual securitisation in the hotspots. In a show of audacity, the Governor’s convoy was attacked earlier in March by unknown gunmen.
In April 2021, gunmen attack at an Internally Displaced Persons’ Camp left seven people dead. Reacting to the killings, Governor Ortom asked the Federal government to declare a state of emergency. Within the timeline, about 70 persons were reportedly killed in three local government areas within a fortnight. Between May 22nd and 23rd, about 100 people were allegedly killed in Benue villages. Since January 2021, food shortage has been reported in some local government areas, in a state known as the nation’s food basket.
The gunmen violence in Benue state appears to be part of the broader banditry affecting the northwest and northcentral zones. Even more so, since the ban of open grazing, multiple attacks on farming communities have been recorded. The executive secretary of Benue State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, Dr Emmanuel Shior, acknowledged that the increasing number of internally displaced persons were caused by rising insecurity in Benue state. According to him, about 100,000 new displacements have been recorded since 2020.
There is a need to manage the growing banditry across the country. Even more important is to understand if the inherent violent realities have influenced the trend of bandits’ violence. The Nigerian security operatives need to identify if they are dealing with bandits or a repeated case of farmer-herder conflict. A thorough understanding of the current security dynamics in Benue state will inform security measures geared towards safety and stability. Additionally, improved securitisation in the affected areas will reduce the growing establishment of self-defence and group militias. The spate of killings in Benue state and other parts of the country is an indication that violent death is fast becoming a norm in Nigeria.