The Benue State House of Assembly has issued a strong call for immediate government action to avert what it described as a looming genocide in the country.
The call was made during plenary on Tuesday in Makurdi, following a motion raised by Mr Peter Uche (APC/Guma I), who likened the ongoing attacks on communities in the state to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.
Uche emphasised that Section 14(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, states that the security of lives and property remains the government’s primary responsibility.
He lamented that this obligation was not being fulfilled, noting that Benue residents had for over two decades endured “severe pains, displacement from their ancestral homes, wanton destruction of property, and heinous killings by terrorists.”
According to him, despite repeated alerts to both the Nigerian government and the international community through various media outlets, the attacks had continued without interruption.
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Uche noted that the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches (Establishment) Law, 2017, as amended, was duly enacted by the Benue State House of Assembly to regulate livestock rearing and resolve the long-standing conflict between farmers and herders.
He, however, observed that “the attackers and their sponsors have rather chosen to breach the law and find excuses to perpetrate more killings of innocents.”
Expressing grief over the recent massacre in Yelwata community in Guma Local Government Area, Uche revealed that over 200 lives were lost, many of them women and children.
“Apart from the use of sophisticated weapons, including explosives,” he said, “the marauding herdsmen used fuel to set homes ablaze, wiping out families of up to 10 members.”
“I am deeply pained that women and children will be murdered in their sleep for no fault of theirs. Their only crime being their identity as crop farmers from Benue,” Uche added.
Mr Alfred Berger (APC/Makurdi North), who seconded the motion, criticised the security agencies, asserting that they had failed in their duty to protect the citizens. He urged both the state and federal governments to “rise up to their duties securing the lives of citizens.”
On his part, Mr Abu Umoru (PDP/Apa) called for unity among Benue people across political divides to decisively address the escalating insecurity.
Supporting the motion, Mr Peter Ipusu (APC/Katsina-Ala West) agreed that security forces appeared overwhelmed and unable to safeguard lives. He urged Governor Hyacinth Alia to fully enforce the anti-open grazing law.
Ipusu further appealed to the state’s Commissioner of Police to release protesters arrested over the Yelwata killings, stating that they acted “out of deep pains and frustration.”
In his ruling, Speaker Mr Aondona Dajoh called on President Bola Tinubu to support the enforcement of the anti-open grazing law using the military and police.
He also commended the youths who protested the killings, describing them as “the heroes of democracy in Benue.”
