The killings and destruction that have dogged Benue State seemed to have climaxed on the night of Friday, June 13, into the morning of Saturday, June 14, when about 200 people were killed in Yelewata in Guma Local Government Area of the state.

Sadly, weeks before the massacre, Benue had become the epicentre of violence in Nigeria. For example, on Tuesday, June 3, Daily Trust reported that between April 1 and June 1, 2025, at least 270 people had been killed in a relentless wave of armed attacks across 10 LGAs of the state with the most recent on June 1 claiming 43 lives in Gwer West and Apa Local Government Areas (LGAs).

The Sankera axis (Katsina-Ala, Logo and Ukum) recorded the highest death toll with 83 fatalities in five days of attacks between April 17 and April 21. Other major incidents include Otukpo LGA, where 16 people were killed in multiple attacks between April 4 and May 7.

Generally, Amnesty International says results of its investigations show that out of at least 10,217 people killed in attacks in the last two years in Nigeria, Benue accounts for the highest death toll of 6,896, followed by Plateau with 2,630.

Unfortunately, despite the mounting figures, there were no visible or tangible efforts to address the root cause of the problem. In fact, the pattern after each violence seems to be the same – after an attack, there would be trading of blame, then condemnations by federal and state governments, and directives to security agents to fish out the culprits. Then silence ensues until another violent incident happens.

As the killings in Yelewata community have exposed, by their reactions, there has been no clear prior indication that our political leaders or the security commanders were ready to tackle the issue. The state governor, Hyacinth Alia, first blamed foreign invaders before censuring “Abuja” politicians.

The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, were all in the state ostensibly to assess the situation, arrest the culprits and put measures to curtail recurrence. Alas, they came back with nothing tangible to give the communities any confidence.

Worse still, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, joined the bandwagon by accusing insiders in the military of collaborating with the killers. But he never told the nation what he was doing to identify and arrest those involved.

The charade continued with the visit of President Bola Tinubu to meet the victims, assess the situation and give necessary specific directives to stop the mayhem. First, the visit turned into a celebratory ceremony with the state governor declaring a work-free day and lining up children to welcome the president.

Again, the president was not able to reach out to the victims and directly interact or hear their side of the story because the road to the community was “in a bad shape”.

Subsequently, the president ended the visit with prominent citizens of the state, leaving the ordinary people who bear the brunt of the sufferings out. The only major outcome of the visit was a promise by the president to set up a committee to look into the issue and the usual directives to security chiefs to arrest the culprits.

We at the Daily Trust believe that the victims and their families deserve more. The violence in Benue State must be addressed with clear kinetic and non-kinetic means in order to stop the unnecessary bloodshed.

What is most surprising is that Makurdi hosts important military formations, including the 72 Special Forces Battalion, a key unit of the Nigerian Army spearheading counter-terrorism, counter-insurgency, and internal security operations. Other military formations within the Makurdi area include the 401 Special Forces Brigade, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Tactical Air Command (TAC), the Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering, and the headquarters of the Joint Task Force (JTF) Operation WHIRL STROKE (OPWS). Last month, the Nigerian Navy established a Special Operations Command in Benue as part of its strategies to tackle insecurity in the state.

With such a military presence in Benue State, it should be an unlikely place where bandits and ragtag fighters can invade, operate for four hours unhindered, and disappear without being intercepted or arrested. It follows, therefore, that the killings in Benue are a result of the failure of not just intelligence but also of operational strategy by the nation’s military and security leaders.

Therefore, we call on the government, as a matter of urgency, to thoroughly flush out saboteurs from the security sector, as a house divided against itself cannot stand. A military, which appears to be contaminated by disloyal, selfish and enemy informants, cannot defeat bandits and terrorists.

In this vein, we call on the president to give marching orders to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and the Service Chiefs to immediately bring succor to the state, and also begin the discreet investigation of officers and men in uniform, identify the saboteurs, and flush them out of the military.

We also call on Governor Alia to live up to his oath of office by working with stakeholders to fashion out strategies for securing the state. The federal government cannot, in all honesty, directly prevent attacks in rural communities, which necessitates the need for Governor Alia’s government to work with the police and other security agencies towards implementing proactive measures that would tackle the peculiar security needs of the state.

All hands must be on deck to secure the lives and property of all citizens in order to unleash the potential of the “Food Basket of the Nation.” The continuing avoidable violence must stop. And all federal, state, community, religious, traditional, youth and women leaders owe this obligation.