No fewer than 160 persons, including two soldiers and a popular police officer, have
been killed in Benue state in the last one month in the most horrendous attacks by armed herdsmen. The attacks, which sparked widespread outrage, aside from claiming lives, also left several communities in ruins.
Women in Benue state, therefore, took to the streets a couple of days ago, demanding immediate action from the government to end the carnage, saying the attackers were turning them into widows. This is just as Professors of Tiv extraction have advocated a resort to self-help if the government is incapable of defending the people.
A timeline of these attacks clearly gave an insight into the level of carnage and the burden the people are left to grapple with in the face of the incursions.
Timeline of attacks
Available records of the bloody onslaughts in the last month indicated that on May 2, 2025 the marauders invaded Akpete community in Apa Local Government Area, LGA, killing four persons while several others sustaining injuries and some others went missing
On May 4, the marauders reportedly killed two passengers of a commercial vehicle, after shooting the driver and abducted four others along the Adoka-Otukpo road in Otukpo Local Government Area, LGA.
On May 6, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, identified as Johnson Akaabo and six others were reportedly killed in separate attacks by the marauders in Gwer East and Makurdi LGAs.
The District Head of Odugbeho in Agatu LGA, Chief Anthony Adejoh and one other were also murdered in their farms by the marauders on May 7, at Otobi-Akpa in Otukpo LGA.
May 10 witnessed the murder of 23 persons in four LGAs of Guma, Logo, Ukum and Kwande. A breakdown showed that while nine persons were killed in Logo LGA, eight were killed in Ukum, while three were also murdered in each of Guma and Kwande LGAs.
Communities in Bururku and Gwer West LGAs were also attacked by the marauders on May 11. Seven persons were killed in that incident and many were declared missing. The Chairman of Gwer West, Victor Ormin was compelled to impose movement restrictions in the LGA after that attack.
And on May 17, another attack around Ogwumogbo and Okpo’okpolo communities in Agatu LGA left 15 persons, mostly traders on their way from market dead.
An attack on May 20 also claimed the lives of a former Ward Chairman of the PDP in Tse-Defam, Mba’akov Vengav, Avihijime Council Ward of Gwer West LGA and three others in Guma LGA.
Two soldiers and two others were also reportedly murdered in Ikobi community, Apa LGA on May 22 by the marauders.
The Catholic Priest in Charge of St. John Quasi Parish Jimba, Rev. Fr. Solomon Atongu was shot by the marauders along the dreaded Makurdi – Naka road on May 24. He was left for dead but two occupants of his vehicle were whisked away by the armed men. The cleric who sustained serious injury in the attack has been reported to be in stable condition.
And in less than 24 hours on May 25, another multiple attack claimed the lives of 42 persons in the same Gwer West. Among those killed in the attack which was described as a genocide by the Local Government Chairman, Victor Ormin, were children, women and a popular Police Officer.
The attacks moved to Makurdi, Tse Orjime community, Agan of Mbalagh Council Ward to be precise, where three persons were murdered. Angered by the killings, youths of the community moved the bodies of the victims on foot to the home of the lawmaker representing Makurdi North in the State Assembly, Mr. Alfred Berger to register their anger.
On that same date, the marauders took over the Oweto-Apa-Adoka-Otukpo road where they shot a motorbike rider and took captive an unconfirmed number of truck drivers plying the road at the time of the attack.
And on June 2, over 46 persons were reportedly murdered by the rampaging armed herdsmen in two separate attacks on communities in Apa and Gwer West LGAs.
Come to our aid or we die —Women cry out to govt
While tension continued to mount over the attacks and killings, the women of Apa LGA took to the streets to demand immediate action from the government to end the carnage.
The women who came together under the banner of “The Voice of the Voiceless Women in Apa” bore placards with inscriptions such as “Fulani stop killing our men”, “Apa is our land and not for Fulani”, “Apa a community of widows”, “Government has failed us”, “Government come to our our aid or we die”, “Fulani must go”, among others.
The group in an earlier letter signed by the bereaved women of Apa informing the authorities and security agencies in the LGA of the protest titled, “Notification of a Peaceful Demonstration” expressed deep pain over the endless attacks on their families, homes, and farmlands by armed marauders.
They explained that they resolved to take to the streets following armed herdsmen forceful entrance into their farms, homes, and rooms “to kill and destroy our children, husbands, and dear loved ones, including our fellow women. And today, our children can hardly go to school, our lives are in danger, our future is in shambles.”
One of the leaders of the protest who spoke on condition of anonymity expressed concern on what she termed the perceived prolonged silence of the state and federal governments over the unending attacks in the area saying “the government’s silence is too golden.”
Lamenting the recent attack in Ankpali, she said “ in Ankpali and other parts of Apa, the herdsmen go from house to house, butchering people in such a dehumanising and cruel manner. The government must rise up to its responsibilities and put an end to the gruesome murder of our loved ones.” She warned that the marauders were creating a community of widows in the area if nothing was done to stop them.
