Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria has called for the immediate resignation of Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia, declaring that the persistent bloodshed across the state has become a leadership failure that can no longer be explained away by the general insecurity confronting Nigeria. The demand, contained in a statement issued on Saturday, September 12, 2026, by the group's National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, followed the latest massacre in Ayilamo community in Tombo Ward, Logo Local Government Area, where armed attackers killed eleven people between Thursday night, September 10, and the early hours of Friday, September 11. The victims included seven civilians and four mobile police officers, identified as ASP Paul Ina and Inspectors Mohammed Yusuf, Oge Ikechukwu and Edeh Andrew. The police confirmed the death toll and the identities of the slain officers, but the confirmation brought little comfort to a community that has grown accustomed to burying its dead while waiting for a government response that never seems to arrive.
HURIWA's statement was not a routine condemnation. It was a direct indictment of Governor Alia's administration, accusing him of failing in the most fundamental responsibility of government: the protection of lives and property. "Governor Alia cannot continue to govern as if the persistent bloodshed in Benue is a normal security challenge," the group declared. It urged him to "accept responsibility for his administration's security failures and resign if he can no longer guarantee the protection of the people entrusted to his government." The language was uncompromising, and it reflected a growing frustration among Nigerians who have watched successive administrations in Benue preside over a security crisis that has turned the state into one of the deadliest places in the country.
The scale of the violence is staggering. According to figures attributed to Amnesty International, at least 6,896 people were killed in Benue between May 29, 2023, and May 2025, making the state the worst affected among those covered by the organisation's investigation. All 23 local government areas of the state had suffered attacks, and more than 200 villages had been sacked. In June 2025, more than 100 people were killed in Yelewata, Guma Local Government Area, and thousands were displaced. Amnesty International subsequently reported that more than 500,000 people had been displaced across the state. HURIWA said the continued attacks showed that many rural communities remained dangerously exposed despite repeated calls for stronger security measures, and it questioned how many more Benue residents must be killed before those responsible for protecting them accept responsibility.
The group did not limit its criticism to the state governor. It called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to treat the Benue crisis as a national emergency, demanding stronger security operations, better intelligence and the immediate protection of vulnerable communities. It also urged the Federal Government and security agencies to identify and prosecute those responsible for the attacks, including their alleged sponsors. HURIWA expressed particular concern over what it described as attempts by political authorities to minimise or deny the severity of attacks on vulnerable communities, warning that denying the killings would not bring back the dead or protect communities from future attacks. "Nigeria must never normalise terrorism, mass killings or the systematic displacement of rural communities," the group said.
The Ayilamo attack is the latest in a long and bloody series of assaults on Benue communities that have continued unabated despite repeated promises of action from both the state and federal governments. The attackers struck at night, as they so often do, moving through the community with weapons and leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. The killing of four mobile police officers alongside seven civilians underscored the vulnerability of security personnel who are deployed to protect these communities but are themselves outgunned and outnumbered. The officers who died in Ayilamo were not merely statistics. They were men with names, families and colleagues who will mourn them. ASP Paul Ina, Inspector Mohammed Yusuf, Inspector Oge Ikechukwu and Inspector Edeh Andrew were sent to protect the people of Benue, and they paid for that duty with their lives.
The Benue State Government has not issued a formal response to HURIWA's demand for the governor's resignation. Governor Alia has previously urged President Tinubu to strengthen security operations in the state, and he has acknowledged the severity of the crisis. But HURIWA's statement suggests that acknowledgements and appeals are no longer enough. The group recalled that Catholic leaders and other Benue stakeholders had repeatedly raised the alarm over the killings, including during engagements with United States lawmakers, and argued that the international attention should have compelled stronger and more coordinated action by all levels of government. The fact that it did not, HURIWA said, was itself a failure of leadership.
For the people of Ayilamo and the hundreds of communities across Benue that live in constant fear of the next attack, HURIWA's demand for the governor's resignation is more than a political statement. It is a cry of desperation from a population that has been abandoned by the very institutions that are supposed to protect it. The group's call for accountability is a reminder that public office carries consequences when government repeatedly fails to protect citizens. Whether Governor Alia will heed the call or whether the killings will continue as they have for years remains to be seen. But the people of Benue have made their choice clear. They want to live. They want to farm. They want to send their children to school without fear of them being killed. And they want a government that will protect them. If the current administration cannot provide that, HURIWA is saying, it should step aside and let someone who can.
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