The string of attacks on Benue State and the Middle Belt are aimed at re-enacting the defunct Fulani-led 1804 Jihad, the Alliance of Yoruba Democratic Movement (AYDM) has said.
The group in statement at the weekend called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to take definite and decisive action to stop the growing carnage in Benue and halt the Jihad plot. The AYDM plans to visit Benue at the end of June.
The group said the Yoruba express full support and solidarity with the people of the Middle Belt.
He said the people of the South West share common fate with Benue and all states currently under extremists’ attacks adding that now fewer than 50 Yoruba people living in the Middle Belt have been killed in terrorist induced violence
The statement signed by AYDM General Secretary, Popoola Ajayi said the attackers are determined to break the will of Benue and Plateau in order to ease advancement to Southern Nigeria.
The AYDM, a coalition of 130 Pan Yoruba and Itsekiri groups said the people of the South West are ready to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the battles ahead.
AYDM said not having a Fulani as the current President of Nigeria is being used as justification to drag Nigeria to war. He said at present armed herdsmen are entrenched across the tropical and forest homeland of Nigerian indigenous people waiting to attack at the slightest notice.
He said already, the chaos is spreading to other parts of the North Central region, the South East and the South West describing the situation as a looming national disaster.
The AYDM condemned in strong terms the recent massacre of over 200 innocent citizens in Yelewata, Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, between June 13 and 14, 2025. The group said this atrocity marks a new low in the series of attacks being carried out by what it described as a “well funded network of Fulani militias,” which continues to disguise itself under various guises like Marmuda, Lakurawa and herdsmen, bandits.
The AYDM said the terrorists employ kidnapping, bank robbery, selling of human parts and forceful occupation of indigenous land in the grand plot to wage psychological war on the people ahead of a planned Nationwide Jihad.
He accused a section of the Fulani leadership of pursuing the age-long agenda of political domination and land grabbing.
Since 2015, communities in Nasarawa, Plateau, and Benue States — including Agatu, Logo, Katsina-Ala, Gwer East and West — have been relentlessly attacked,” said Ajayi.
The AYDM said: “Over 4,000 lives have been lost, with properties worth billions destroyed. Entire villages have been overrun, and indigenous populations forcefully displaced by strangers now occupying their ancestral lands.”
The group warned that the growing boldness of the militias cannot be separated from the political calculations ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to the group, there is a deliberate and dangerous buildup by vested interests who are weaponising politics as a tool for electoral manipulation and territorial conquest.
Ajayi stated: “President Tinubu must go beyond the usual ritual of issuing ineffective statements and must now match words with concrete action. The time to act is now — before the entire country is taken over by forces bent on its disintegration.”
While expressing deep condolences to the families of the victims in Yelewata and across other affected communities, AYDM called on the Nigerian security agencies to go after the financiers and international sponsors of these terror networks. The group also demanded a thorough investigation and prosecution of individuals aiding and abetting these crimes.
The statement concluded with a strong call on President Tinubu and the National Assembly to immediately initiate the urgent restructuring of Nigeria, to ensure true Federalism and restore the autonomy of the federating units, which is the only sustainable path to peace, equity, and national stability.
“Only a restructured Nigeria where every region can protect its land and people, control its resources, and govern itself in line with its values and aspirations can put an end to this madness,” the statement read.
