17 residents of the Mbaikyor community in Gwer-East Local Government Area (LGA) were interred at a mass burial on Tuesday, 09 April by the Benue State government. It may be recalled that the deceased were among the victims including a retired WO2 Army officer and a boy murdered on Thursday, 07 March 2024 by alleged armed herders. Speaking during the burial of the victims in Mbaikyor, Benue’s governor, Hyacinth Alia, said the solution to the unabating attack on farmers by armed herders was the formation of vigilante groups. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has also reported two out of the 17 farmers were buried earlier because of the rapid decomposition of the corpses while the remaining 15 were buried on Tuesday.
Represented by his deputy, Sam Ode, Governor Alia condemned the brutal killings in strong terms. He said the Benue government was committed to the protection of lives and property of all citizens. “Today is a sad day in the history of Benue State; to line up caskets like this is unacceptable. I am so sad, and my heart is heavy to behold this kind of sight that shouldn’t have happened. Security is not for the government alone because no one can protect you like yourself. You need to have a Joint Security Taskforce or vigilante groups that would be properly profiled and handed over to the government to handle them. That is the solution to the insecurity we are facing in the state,” he said. Alia also pledged to construct the rural road coursing through the area to ease the movement of security agencies to the area in times of emergencies, adding that the community also needed a police station. He promised to meet with the families of the bereaved after the burial and prayed against the reoccurrence of such incidents.
The President of the Masev Development Association (MDA), Vitalis Tarhule, said the primary responsibility of government was the protection of lives and property and appealed to the government to endeavour to always protect the people. Tarhule said that similar attacks had occurred in 2014, 2018 and 2024 within the axis resulting in about 40 deaths. He stressed the need to establish a security post in Mbaikyor to check the unwholesome activities of armed herders.
Furthermore, Elias Audu, member of the Benue House of Assembly (BNHA) representing Gwer-East State Constituency expressed disappointment that despite the availability of fighter jets in the country to tackle such incidents, security agencies did not live up to their billings. Audu advised that the relevant security agencies should be reprimanded because they failed to intervene in the crisis using the available fighter jets at their disposal. He said the attack lasted for over three hours. Mr Audu, however, commended Governor Alia for all he had done since the attack including the Easter distribution of relief materials, he made available to the victims’ families. The lawmaker also conveyed to the bereaved families, the condolences of the Speaker of the Benue Assembly, Aondona Dajoh.
