Empty Laws, Endless Deaths: How Government Solutions Have Failed Benue and Plateau Communities
For the past six months, communities in Plateau and Benue States in North Central Nigeria have lived in perpetual fear as they witness one attack after another.
On Saturday, June 14, another such attack—which left over 200 people dead and properties burnt—occurred in Yelwata, a community in Benue State.
Grisly images of the attack seen on social media show a harrowing aftermath of the massacre, as women and children were not spared, with most of them butchered to death by machetes.
According to Tsegba Lucy, a Facebook user, claimed she lost her mother and sisters in Saturday’s attack.
As in every previous attack in either neighbouring Plateau or Benue, statements of condemnation by political elites began flying around, accompanied by yet another strongly worded instruction for the military to fish out the assailants and curb the insecurity in the region—this time, again, from President Bola Tinubu.
“Enough is enough! I have directed the security agencies to act decisively, arrest the perpetrators of these evil acts on all sides of the conflict, and prosecute them,” President Tinubu said.
The statement issued following this latest attack was not different from the one he released when gunmen attacked Zikke and Kakpa communities in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State, where over 50 people were killed.
“I have instructed security agencies to thoroughly investigate this crisis and identify those responsible for orchestrating these violent acts,” he said after that attack, which took place on April 14.
Although this region has witnessed an alarming escalation in attacks since the beginning of this year, the insecurity—often described as farmers-herders clashes—has been prevalent for over two decades.
History of the Herdsmen-Farmers Conflict in North Central Nigeria
The root cause of the conflict, which claimed over 1,200 lives in 2024 alone, according to International Crisis Group (ICG), has long been blamed on the struggle for resources between farmers and Fulani herders.
Shortly after Nigeria gained independence, Northern Nigeria, in 1965—during the time of regional government—enacted the Grazing Reserve Law, which provided grazing routes within the Northern part of the country. With a total of 141 gazetted grazing reserves in Nigeria, the system was designed to ensure that nomadic Fulani herdsmen had access to grazing lands for their cattle. However, over time, the grazing route system began to face challenges due to a variety of factors. Aside from the Land Use Act of 1978—which vested all land comprised in the territory of each state in the federation in the Governor of that state—the rapid growth of Nigeria’s population increased the demand for agricultural and urban development. This is in addition to climate factors, which have been argued to shrink arable land.
Hence, herdsmen-farmer clashes intensified over time as Fulani herders sought green pastures for their cattle. Benue State, with a population of about 4.6 million (2006 National Census), and bordering Taraba, Nasarawa, and Kogi States, is widely regarded as the Food Basket of the Nation. With a landmass of about 34,000 square kilometers—an area ten times the size of Lagos—Benue thrived on agriculture before the herdsmen-farmers clashes began intensifying in early 2015, with over 70% of its residents engaged in farming. The arable land makes it suitable for growing some of Nigeria’s notable food crops like yam, rice, beans, cassava, sweet potato, soybean, and cocoyam.
Yoosu Soonen, ex-President of the National Union of Benue State Students (NUBESS), who hails from Piza in Ukum LGA, told Neusroom that most of those in various IDP camps are farmers who have lost their only means of livelihood to the herdsmen crisis.
Some Reported Cases of Death in Plateau and Benue Since January 2025
Benue State: A Cascade of Attacks
June 14, 2025 – Yelwata Massacre:
The Saturday attack in Yelwata, Guma Local Government Area, is regarded as one of the deadliest single incidents of the period. Although the number of deaths remains uncertain, several sources claim that the death toll is over 100.
June 2, 2025 – Gwer West and Apa Localities:
Just weeks before the Yelwata tragedy, simultaneous attacks in Gwer West and Apa areas of Benue State resulted in at least 33 deaths. Reports indicate at least 17 killed in Tse-Antswam in Naka town (headquarters of Gwer West LGA), while 16 persons were killed in Edikwu and Ankpali communities of the neighbouring Apa LGA.
May 26, 2025 – Gwer West Area:
A week prior to the June attacks, gunmen—strongly suspected to be herders—killed at least 20 people in the area. This adds to a grim pattern of repeated violence in the locality.
Plateau State: Persistent Peril
Late March – Early April 2025 – Bokkos LGA (Bordering Benue):
An attack that spanned several days and affected six villages in Plateau’s Bokkos district left more than 50 people dead. Bokkos had earlier witnessed a deadly attack in December 2023 where 200 people were massacred.
Late May – Early June 2025 – Multiple Villages (Plateau):
Over a span of days, 36 people were killed in predominantly Christian villages including Kopmur, Mbor, Hokk, Pangkap, Fokoldep, Margif, Horop, Kwahas, and the Mushere area. In late May, nine people, including a church leader, were killed in Mushere.
April 14, 2025 – Zike and Kimakpa (Bassa District):
Assailants struck these villages, leaving 51 people dead.
International Christian Concern (ICC) estimates that nearly 1,000 people were killed in Bassa and surrounding areas of Plateau State between January and early June 2025, with over 200 fatalities in Bokkos LGA alone within the same period.
