The attacks in Otukpo local government area in Benue state and Plateau state have been strongly condemned by the International Centre for Human Rights, Non-Violence and Safety Awareness (ICHRNVSA).
The attacks on Wednesday on Emichi, Odudaje, and Okpomajuo ccurred just 24 hours after the communities were reportedly simultaneously attacked following the 11-person murder at Otobi Community in Otukpo LGA on Tuesday.
In a press release on Friday , Amb. (Dr) Ene Sarah Unobe, the Chief Executive Officer of the ICHRNVSA, expressed her sorrow over the atrocities, denounced the murders, and urged President BolaAhmed Tinubu and law enforcement agencies to put an immediate end to the violence in Otukpo local government. She also appeals tothe international community to back Nigeria’s counterterrorism initiativesto put an end to these unwarranted attacks in Benue state
Mrs. Ene Unobe Esq said the deadly attacks are unprovoked, horrible crimes against the peaceful residents of the Otukpo local government area. This once-calm local government has tragically turned into a killing field for roving, bloodthirsty attackers.
She said,”It is with deep sorrow, the ICHRNVSA is joining well-meaning Nigerians in appealing to the federal government and state governments of Benue and Plateau states to immediately put an end to the ongoing attacks in Otukpo local government and the surrounding communities. The Idoma tribe’s headquarters is in Otukpo local government, which has historically been a very tranquil area. However, in recent years, attacks have led to a waste of lives and livelihoods, disrupted daily activities, caused bloodshed, and forced villagers to relocate from Otobi, Ojantele, and other communities. Otukpo has witnessed bloodshed when its only police station was attacked and policemen, including the Divisional Police officer, bank staff, and community members were killed in cold blood when armed men attacked banks and the station in 2023.
Also, the Otobiand Ojantele villagers have faced attacks, not to mention thearmed herdsmen attack on Iwili inUmogidiWard, Entekpa and Onipi communities in Adoka,where farm produce was burnt and villagers reportedly killed. Regrettably, the state’s once tranquil agrarian villages, which depended on farming and are important food providers for the country are being sacked and Benue, which is referred to as the “Food Basket of the Nation” in official circles, has turned into a killing field, mass graves leaving behind stories of suffering, blood, and tears.This must not continue.
‘’ While the government has a responsibility to guarantee the safety of all Nigerians, it is the responsibility of state governments and security agencies to identify the underlying causes of these conflicts and attacks and implement a long-term solution that will allow villagers to live their lives without fear or intimidation. The Federal Republic of Nigeria’s constitution guarantees these villages the freedom to live in peace and carry out their everyday activities without fear of the unknown.
It is important to take seriously the mental health of the survivors and the need to provide them with a means of livelihood, decent shelter, food, and medical services to ease their pain, while also taking care of their children. As a safety and human rights group, we call on government to work with humanitarian organizations to take seriously the issue of displacement and rehabilitation of affected victims of the attacks to ensure that psychotic and psychiatrist treatments are made available to the affected persons who have lost loved ones, their homes, businesses, and houses’’.
Speaking further, UnobeEsq stated ‘’ To put an end to the attacks, the ICHRNVSA also feels it is appropriate to emphasize unequivocally that all well-meaning Nigerians and the world community should strongly condemn them and demand a thorough inquiry that would unravel the remote and immediate cause of this persistent attacks with a view of engaging synergistic approach to ending mayhem.
Benue State, the nation’s food basket, is turning into a mirage as a result of these mindless attacks that have stopped farmers from visiting their farms, which has impacted food production and raised the cost of food that the country is currently dealing with.
Although IGP Kayode Egbetokun’s recent visit to Plateau and his directive to reorganize the state’s police forces are praiseworthy, more important than anything else is the requirement for a strong community-based security solution and the resolution of socio-economic issues like mass unemployment, cultism, social vices, poverty, and land grabs.
Additionally, the establishment of more police stations, Area commands in Otukpo, as well as a military and police barracks in the center of the town and other affected localities, will guarantee not only the restoration of peace but prevent planned assaults and deter crime.
We also condemn the deadly attacks in Plateau state which left several people dead, and early Monday morning in the Bassa Local Government Area of the North Central state, gunmen killed at least 51 people and injured scores more in the settlements of Zikke and Kakpa and around 2,000 others over several days of attacks. She said ‘’ These recurring attacks must be halted and the killers brought to book ‘’
It can be recalled that in Benue state,a timeline of deadly attacks as reported show that from 2018:
Three people were killed in the May 16 morning attack on the Ukemberagya settlement in the Gaambe-Tiev council ward of the Logo local government area, according to a timeline of these incidents.
Additionally, the invaders burned a number of homes, huts, and food barns in five of the invasion-affected communities.
Then, on May 18, there was an attack that killed six people, including a head teacher at Makurdi Primary School named Stephen Tavaku, a colleague at his junior secondary school named Christian Anankpa, and four other people, including women, who were allegedly attacked and killed by suspected militant herdsmen in the Mbatonbo community in the state’s Gwer local government area.
Ten people, including the fatalities, traveled to the area as part of their teachers’ cooperative society to survey and purchase some farmland for rice cultivation.
Another vicious incident was documented on May 20th, when two members of Operation Whirl Stroke were allegedly attacked and killed by suspected herdsmen in the early hours of that Sunday in Tseke village, which is located in the state’s Logo local government area and is a border hamlet between Benue and Taraba states.
On May 21, the raiders reportedly killed at least five people in Mchia hamlet, which is located in the State’s Logo local government region.
Following the military’ successful killing of 35 militant herders in gunfights in Benue and Nasararwa and the recovery of an arms cache, Operation Whirl Stroke also stated that one of its personnel had been killed and another had been reported missing.
While returning from Ayati-Ikpayongo in Gwer East local government area of Benue state, where they attended the mass burial ceremony of the two Catholic priests and seventeen parishioners who were killed last April at Mbalom, Gwer East local government area, three mourners were reportedly ambushed and killed by suspected herdsmen on Makurdi-Naka road on May 22. This was another tragic day for Benue.
Additionally, on May 26th, two distinct murders occurred in the state’s Logo and Guma local government regions, killing a couple and another person.
One Mr. KwaghaondoUgber and his wife, Mne, were slaughtered in an ambush by suspected armed militant herders from Tse Adendem village on Anyiin road. The pair was their route to Anyiin town.
AzegeorShitenger was killed and Mrs. YonovShitenger was taken hostage when suspected herders attacked Tse Shitenger in the Guma local government district of the state’s Uvir council ward.
The killing rampage resumed on May 31st when two unwary passengers on a motorcycle were reportedly ambushed and slain by suspected militant herders near the Mbazar hamlet between Anyiin and Akwana in the Benue state local government area of Logo.
According to information obtained by Vanguard on Saturday, two more people were seriously injured in the incident.
Two National Examination Council, or NECO, exam candidates were among the fifteen people killed in a concerted attack on communities in the Logo and Guma local government areas on June 6.The majority of the attack’s victims were mourners who were holding a wake for a departed relative who had not survived to be buried.
As is customary, the attackers were reported to have seriously injured a number of people and set fire to a number of homes and farmlands in Tse Shan, Saghev.
A raid in Adai village, Totyough Mbaye Yandev council ward, Guma local government region, on June 8th resulted in the death of 45-year-old Godwin Tarfa and the injuries of many others.
Five people, including two brothers, were subsequently murdered at Mobile Barracks between June 11 and June 13 in the Logo local government area’s Tombo ward, Tse Audu Amo-Tombo ward, Tse Akombo, and MbaniangeMbagber ward.
