From Attah Ede, Makurdi
The Leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria ( MACBAN), Benue State chapter, on Thursday, alleged that unknown people with military and paramilitary uniforms have been killing herders and farmers in some communities living along Benue and Nasarawa States.

The association further stated that the unknown killers usually  came to attack herders and farmers living in the communities along the Benue and Nasarawa States border.
Chairman of  MACBAN in Benue State, Alhaji Mohammed Risku, who disclosed this during an interview with journalists in Makurdi, revealed that no fewer than 31 Fulani people including women and children have been killed so far  by these unidentified persons between January and April this year, stressing that it has become practically impossible to know the true identities of those uniform men.
“Whenever these unknown people enter the  communities, they will begin to attack our people, kill them, kill our cows and even kill local farmers too. We have been reporting these strange occurrences to the joint military operations covering Benue and Nasarawa States but, no action taken.
“The other day, 11 Fulani children were killed around Doma/Gwerwest border areas. Again, six Fulani herders were killed in Gwerwest. They were on bikes, attacked and killed by unknown people. Even at Guma LGA, one herder was attacked and killed, his bike was taken away. All these killings happened in this year 2024”, Risku lamented.
The MACBAN chairman advocated for setting up of  a special joint security committee by the state government comprising  of local farmers, local fulani herders and other stakeholders to coordinate the local security  at the various  communities faced with incessant attacks and killings in the state.
According to him, if the government could establish such a committee that could  integrate the local farmers and Fulani herders to be recognised, supervised by government security agencies and state government, the  incessant attacks and killings would be curtailed.
He said that the association in collaboration with the Benue State Government will soon embark on a statewide advocacy tour of communities located along the Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States to create security awareness.
According to him, the advocacy was necessary in order to enlighten local farmers and herders about the on going peace efforts by various governments, and the need to address issue of incessant attacks on communities in local government areas located in and around riverine areas of Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States
Corroborating the chairman’s position, the secretary of MACBAN, Alhaji Ibrahim Galma, maintained that the leadership of the Fulani herders in the State, have been advocating for such committee but the government is yet to give approval.
He noted that most of the challenges being experienced in the State today, were as a result  of  non integrations of Fulani  group, adding  that experience had shown that there were herders and farmers crisis in the State several years ago, and Guma local government area is the worst hit, but today, the local communities and the fulanis have cooperated and incorporated  themselves and there is no more crises.
“So, the security agencies at Guma LGA are even now at rest because they don’t have problems of attack and counter  attacks anymore, except the problem of bandits and ordinary criminals.
“Even talking about the attacks and killings in the Logo and Katsina-Ala axis of the state, there are large armed bandits and criminals inhabited in those areas which cannot  be attributed to Fulani herdsmen.
“The entire Sankara axis was inhabited by a large number of criminal gangs and those criminal gangs are not of Fulani origin. Although,there are few bad fulanis who are also part of them and there are also those local  farmers, indigenous youths from the areas who have taken into these dreaded acts due to consumption of illicit drugs.
“This criminal act of kidnappings and armed banditry has made these people acquire money and also have a very large empty area of hiding, especially around the Cameroonian and the Nigerian borders which is a very large empty area, so they are  perpetrating crimes.
“So those crimes and criminalities  within those axes were not  associated with farmers and herders’ issues. Is completely criminal gangs and those gangs are coordinated”, Galma stated.
Speaking on the persistent attacks and killings in Adoka/Apa and Gwer west  local government areas of the state, the secretary, said MACBAN could not ascertain on whether the act is being perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen, hence there is no representatives of Fulani herders in the Adoka and Apa axis.
“Truly we have been hearing about the attacks and killings in those areas, but we cannot actually allude to the Fulani herdsmen being behind it because we have no representatives from that axis. These Ardos from zone C, most of their settlements are in Otukpo, Ohimini, Okpokwu and Ado LGAs and are not connected to the Apa/Adoka areas.
“Those herders around  those areas are strange people and we believe that they are finding their roots from Nasarawa State. This information I am giving you, I believe that the police know about it because  the entrance is through Rukubi where they crossed the border. So, we don’t have anything to say or do because when it comes to the issue of attacks and killings, we extonerate ourselves from it” Galma stated.