Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has ordered security agencies to end a wave of killings in central Benue state.
It is believed that more than 200 people have died in a series of attacks in various communities in recent days alone.
Tinubu describes the killing as “inhumane and counter-detection.” He spoke after hundreds of people rushed into the streets of the state capital Makurdi in protest of the murder.
Authorities say thousands of people were forced to flee their homes.
How severe is Benue’s violence?
This is not a new issue, but it has been upgraded recently.
Security analyst Kabir Adamu, head of Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited, told the BBC that 1,043 people died in Benue between May 2023 and May 2025, according to their database.
The state has been at the heart of violent clashes between herders and farmers, which has led to the killing of thousands of civilians and many members of the security forces in Nigeria’s so-called mid-belts date back many years.
The herders, mainly from the Fulani people, walked around looking for cattle food, causing them to clash with the owners of the farm, who said cattle trampled on their crops and polluted water sources. Some of them armed with powerful guns, saying they need to protect themselves from livestock.
Although farmers often blame Fulanis on Fulanis, one of the community’s leaders, Baba Othman Ngelzarma, told the BBC that his people were not Benue’s killing.
“Our people are not after the killings in Benue, we know that Benue has some unresolved problems that have been around for some time.
“But we never allowed any of our people to attack or kill others,” he said.
The authorities did not blame any group, but it is safe to assume that there are many victims on both sides, as any attack usually leads to revenge and then to a cycle of violence.
What is behind the violence?
The ongoing insecurity in Benue is a complex problem that stems from a mixture of economic, environmental, socio-political and governance factors.
“Environmental degradation, especially desertification caused by climate change and irregular rainfall patterns in northern Nigeria, plays a crucial role,” analyst Adamu said.
“These pressures force herders to move south…including Benue, where resources are already tight.
“The rapid population growth in these regions further exacerbates competition for limited land and water, thus creating a self-enhancing cycle of environmental pressures, immigration and escalating conflicts,” he noted.
Religion is an additional factor because the Fulani are primarily Muslims, while the agricultural community in Benue is Christian.
Many also accuse the authorities of not providing more security or proposing policies to address the economic needs of both communities.
What has the government done to the conflict?
State and national governments have tried various policies over the years, but have not proven that any policies have succeeded.
Mr Adamu said the Joint Federal Task Force was established in 2018 and then another Forest Guard last month.
“This state system aims to recruit armed agents to obtain forest reserves from terrorists and criminals.”
Sam Philip, a public affairs analyst who lives in Markurdi, said the conflict has not yet attracted the attention it deserves for years, with the government focusing on other security crises such as Boko Haram insurgents in the northeast, the demand for separatist parts of the southeast, and the wave of Ransom kidnapping in the northwest.
“I feel like this issue has been overlooked by the government for a long time, and that’s why things continue to escalate,” he noted.
How to solve it?
Mr Adamu said any solution needs to be safe and economical.
“One way to achieve lasting peace in Benue is through a sustained and adaptable security presence, which means deploying more tactical and intelligence-based special forces to the state of Benue to ensure that their presence is sustained and adapted to the diversion threat.
He also said the government needs to provide herders with land to grazed to avoid conflict with farmers.
“The purpose should be to ensure it is fair and to provide viable, sustainable alternatives for pastoralists,” he concluded.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari did propose such a plan, but the southern states rejected it, which saw it as a way to give Fulanis a portion of the land.
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