Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A quiet stretch of road from Anyiin to Ayilamo in Logo Local Government Area, Benue State, now tells a haunting story of abandonment and fear. Once busy farming communities that produced yams, cassava, maize, and other staples now stand deserted, overrun by weeds and silence. Homes lie empty not because of economic migration but because families were driven out by repeated violent attacks, leaving fields untended and livelihoods lost. This abandonment of rural settlements marks a tragic chapter in a broader and escalating conflict that has gripped central Nigeria for years.
Over recent months, residents and displaced families along the Anyiin-Ayilamo axis have reported repeated assaults on their communities by armed groups widely described locally as suspected herders armed with sophisticated weapons. These attacks, according to those who fled, have been relentless and brutal. Entire farming settlements stretching from Tsukwa to Akwana and up to Tombo Ward near Ayilamo have been emptied as men, women, and children fled in fear of further violence.
While farmers recounted how their ancestral lands were violently taken from them, what has alarmed many observers is the persistence of mining activity in the very areas from which these communities were driven. According to displaced residents and local sources, artisanal mining continues unfettered in parts of Mbagber, Tombo, Ukemberagya/Tswarev, and Ayilamo, even as farmers dare not return to till their soil. Communities have raised troubling questions about why the same armed groups who attack farmers do not target mining operations, leading to suspicion of possible collusion or protection of mineral interests.
Local commentators and displaced residents describe a situation in which fertile farmland has been abandoned in the face of violence, yet miners, including some foreign operators in certain locations, carry on their work without interference. In Kwande Local Government Area, community leaders say that infiltration by armed groups has forced residents out of villages such as Menakwgh, Inungugh, and Waya, while workers and machinery continue mining operations in those localities. These reports suggest an unusual and troubling pattern: while indigenous farmers are chased from their lands at gunpoint, mining activities proceed largely unchallenged.
The minerals believed to be present in these areas include iron ore, gold, lithium, gemstones, aluminium, titanium, and other valuable deposits, heightening local anxieties that the conflict is not solely about traditional herder-farmer tensions but also about control of natural resources. Residents have expressed suspicion that the violence serves to clear communities out of mineral-rich areas, enabling unregulated extraction. These allegations are echoed in neighbouring areas where artisanal and informal mining has proliferated amid insecurity and weak enforcement of regulations.
The forced relocation in Logo LGA is part of a broader pattern of violence affecting rural communities in Benue State and Nigeria’s Middle Belt. Decades-long clashes between nomadic herders and settled farmers over land, water, and grazing rights have evolved into highly militarised confrontations. These conflicts have left tens of thousands dead and displaced millions region-wide, particularly affecting agrarian states such as Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, and Taraba. The humanitarian toll has been immense, with large swathes of farmland abandoned due to insecurity and livelihoods destroyed.
Historical episodes such as the Agatu massacres in 2016 illustrate the scale of violence that has wracked the state. In Agatu LGA alone, coordinated attacks by armed groups resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands displaced, decimating farming communities once known for agricultural productivity. Similar patterns have been documented across other local government areas, with villages razed, churches and homes burned, and entire populations forced into internal displacement.
Another tragic example is the Mgban massacre in April 2023, when armed assailants, widely identified as herders, attacked internally displaced persons camps in Guma LGA, killing dozens of displaced civilians who had already fled their homes. The brutality of such attacks, often targeting vulnerable populations rather than combatants, underscores the severe humanitarian crisis affecting Benue.
Beyond the immediate violence, rising conflict in Benue has had a profound negative impact on agricultural output. Studies indicate that insecurity correlates with sharp declines in crop and livestock production, deepening food insecurity not only locally but nationally.
The displacement of farming communities has far-reaching social and economic effects. Families driven from their lands often find themselves in precarious conditions with limited access to food, water, shelter, and basic services. The breakdown of traditional economic systems, once centred on agriculture, affects whole communities and increases dependency on aid, while younger generations miss out on schooling and productive livelihoods.
Internally displaced persons face additional risks including poor sanitation, disease, psycho-social trauma, and, in some cases, exploitation within host communities. Reports from displacement studies in the region also highlight how the absence of secure livelihoods can push displaced people into risky economic activities or deepen social tensions in overcrowded camps.
State and federal authorities have periodically deployed security forces to respond to outbreaks of violence, and there have been arrests in relation to past attacks in Benue. However, many residents argue that security interventions have been too limited, reactive, and inconsistent to stem the tide of violence or protect vulnerable communities. Traditional leaders, civil society, and community representatives have called for more comprehensive strategies that address not just immediate violence but the deeper drivers of conflict, including land governance, resource competition, and economic marginalisation.
Local leaders have specifically called on authorities to investigate alleged links between armed groups and mining interests, enforce environmental and mining regulations to protect community rights, and ensure security forces are better equipped to defend civilians rather than merely respond after violence has occurred.
The crisis in Benue illustrates how complex and interconnected issues of land, livelihoods, natural resources, and security can become. What began in many areas as conflict between pastoralists and farmers over grazing and crop destruction has expanded into a multi-layered crisis encompassing displacement, suspected exploitation of mineral resources, erosion of food systems, and deepening humanitarian need.
Without concerted and sustained policy action, including stronger protection for farming communities, improved security infrastructure, equitable land governance, and transparent regulation of mineral extraction, many fear that cycles of violence and displacement will continue unabated.
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