By John Moses
Legislators in Nigeria’s Benue State have issued a stark warning to both national and international authorities, urging immediate intervention to prevent what they describe as an impending genocide, following years of sustained attacks on rural communities.
During a plenary session in the state capital, Makurdi, on Tuesday, member of the State Assembly Mr Peter Uche (APC, Guma I) raised a motion comparing the ongoing killings in Benue to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, which claimed over 800,000 lives.
“The continued slaughter, displacement, and destruction in Benue cannot be ignored any longer,” Uche said. “This is no longer isolated violence. It’s a campaign of extermination.”
Referring to Section 14(b) of the Nigerian Constitution—which places the security of lives and property as the primary duty of government—Uche said authorities had failed in their constitutional responsibility to protect citizens.
He pointed to recent attacks on Yelwata community, where over 200 people, including women and children, were reportedly killed by armed herders using explosives, firearms, and petrol to torch homes, wiping out entire families.
“These attacks have been going on for over two decades. Despite laws like the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of 2017, which was intended to mitigate farmer-herder conflict, the violence has continued unabated,” Uche added.
The motion received strong backing from other lawmakers, including Mr Alfred Berger (APC, Makurdi North), who accused security forces of being ineffective and overwhelmed, and Mr Peter Ipusu (APC, Katsina-Ala West), who urged Governor Hyacinth Alia to enforce the anti-open grazing law more rigorously.
Opposition member Mr Abu Umoru (PDP, Apa) called for unity across political divides, warning that insecurity threatened the state’s very survival.
In his ruling, Speaker Mr Aondona Dajoh praised young protesters who took to the streets in response to the Yelwata massacre, calling them “heroes of democracy,” and appealed directly to President Bola Tinubu to deploy military and police forces to enforce Benue’s grazing laws and restore security.
