By Gideon Dooyum Inyom
The bloodshed has continued for too long, and the excuses have worn thin. What was once described as a mere “farmer-herder conflict” has now been unmasked as a systematic campaign of ethnic violence. New and credible revelations confirm what many in Benue State, particularly from Agatu, Guma, Tarka, Buruku, Logo, Gwer, and parts of Makurdi LGAs have always known and feared.
A former Governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, in a formal policy paper presented to the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), disclosed shocking details about the role of Fulani Ardos in coordinating militia attacks on Tiv communities. According to Adamu, these Ardos have raised funds, hired mercenaries, guided attackers through difficult terrain, and served as direct local command agents during violent operations.
In a particularly revealing account, Adamu describes Ardo Hakimi, who allegedly raised money to hire mercenaries to attack Southern Nasarawa’s Tiv population. Hakimi was later killed by the same militias after attempting to underpay them. This not only underscores the criminal and volatile nature of these networks but also confirms that traditional structures have been hijacked to execute ethnic cleansing.
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DSS MEMO CONFIRMS FOREKNOWLEDGE OF THE ATTACKS
To further corroborate these chilling revelations, a leaked memo from the Department of State Services (DSS), dated 13th May 2025, exactly one month after, the Yelwata massacre took place, the memo also surfaced on social media. The document clearly warned of planned coordinated attacks on Benue communities, highlighting specific LGAs and naming perpetrators operating from Southern Nasarawa.
This proves the following:
• The attacks were premeditated and organized.
• Security agencies knew about the threat.
• The government has had credible forewarnings yet failed to prevent the slaughter.
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FROM GRAZING CONFLICT TO SYSTEMATIC ETHNIC CLEANSING
It is important to recall that under the previous Benue State administration, under Chief Samual Ortom, the people advocated for and secured the Anti-Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law, a progressive policy aimed at ending the cycle of farmer-herder clashes. Therefore, it is imperative that Your Excellency immediately directs the heads of federal security agencies, particularly the Nigerian Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and relevant military commands, to enforce the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law, 2017 of Benue State.
This law, enacted as a constitutional response to the violence and displacement faced by Benue communities, has consistently suffered from non-enforcement and sabotage by non-state actors and complicit agents within the security architecture. A federal directive to uphold and enforce this law in full will demonstrate national support for legal state efforts and help deter further attacks under the false pretense of herder rights.
Benue was the first state in the region to take this bold step, hoping it would restore peace and save lives.
Unfortunately, the conflict has now mutated far beyond the issue of grazing. The killings are no longer framed as misunderstandings over cattle routes or farmland. Today, they are daring, deliberate, and genocidal in nature. Communities are being invaded at night. Women, children, and the elderly are slaughtered in their sleep, even in congregations and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps—places meant to offer refuge, now turned into mass graves.
This is no longer a security failure. It is a humanitarian and moral collapse.
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YELWATA MASSACRE: THE LATEST HORROR
The most recent atrocity — the Yelwata massacre, where over 200 civilians were butchered, should have triggered a nationwide emergency response. Instead, it was followed by silence, denial, and blame-shifting. The fact that such a scale of massacre could occur despite prior DSS intelligence and cross-state tension is alarming and inexcusable.
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TIME TO ACT: A NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CALL
1. Federal Government Must Launch a Full-Scale Investigation
We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to:
• Activate the proposed Presidential Committee on Middle Belt Security, beginning with the Nasarawa–Benue corridor.
• Order a national security investigation into the Fulani Ardo militia network.
• Declassify and release the DSS memo findings and take urgent action.
2. Hold State Governments Accountable
The Nasarawa State Government can no longer pretend ignorance while its domain is used as a launchpad for cross-border terror. We demand:
• A clear break from militia-backed traditional actors.
• Investigation and public briefing on the role of Ardo Hakimi and others.
• Joint cooperation with Benue and the federal government on security response.
3. Empower Benue State and Affected Communities
Benue must be granted full constitutional and operational support to:
• Protect its borders, secure vulnerable villages, and stabilize IDP camps.
• Expand the Ranching Model and rebuild displaced communities.
• Establish a Benue Civilian Defense Initiative under state oversight.
4. International Community Must Intervene
We call upon:
• The United Nations, African Union, and International Criminal Court
• The United States, UK, EU, and humanitarian agencies
To:
• Send independent investigative teams to document crimes against humanity.
• Monitor ongoing violations, especially in border areas.
• Pressure the Nigerian government to act and deliver justice.
• Launch peacebuilding efforts and direct humanitarian intervention.
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THIS IS GENOCIDE — AND WE HAVE THE PROOF
We are not raising alarm without evidence. We now have:
• A former governor confirming Ardo-led militia command structures.
• A leaked DSS memo that forewarned attacks like Yelwata.
• Over 7,000 lives lost, villages burned, and entire communities erased.
• State institutions choosing silence, denial, or deflection.
Every new killing in this corridor is now no longer unfortunate. It is a deliberate act, and every failure to prevent it will be recorded as state-enabled violence.
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THE LINE HAS BEEN CROSSED
This is not about land. Not about cows. Not about misunderstandings. This is about a targeted war against the Benue people. It is time to draw the line and defend our existence. The time for euphemisms is over. We call this by its name: genocide.
Let this be the moment Nigeria wakes up. Let this be the moment the world opens its eyes.
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Gideon Dooyum Inyom
Policy Advocate | Peace Mobilizer | Innovation for Economic Development Expert. (Harvard Kennedy School Certified)
doogideon@msn.com
