The he Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, has pushed forward the training of credible youths across Benue State as vigilantes working under the supervision of the military, as was done in Borno State, to defend local communities against terrorist attacks.
The CDS stated this call at a meeting with traditional rulers in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, on Tuesday.
He urged the traditional rulers to put a check on any criminal elements within their domains as he will not tolerate any act of sabotage while working to ensure the protection of Benue communities.
Meanwhile, the Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, visited his brother governor Hyacinth Alia to commiserate with the people of Benue over Yelewata attacks.
Sule urged both states to close ranks and nip the killings in the bud, as he announced the donation of ₦150 million to support Benue internally displaced persons.
The defense chief who has been in the state since Monday had said the military would change strategy to combat the acts of terror.
Benue, a food-producing state in Nigeria’s North-Central zone, has been under heavy attacks by suspected herdsmen for some time. The killings have lingered for years, with some linking it to inter-communal conflicts as well as the quest for land dominance between the autochthonous agrarian dwellers and nomadic cattle rearers.
However, the killings in the last few weeks have been without a break. At least over 160 residents were confirmed killed in a series of attacks by suspected herdsmen who wreaked havoc in different communities in the state within two months.
Last Friday, at least 59 residents of the Yelewata area in the state were killed and over 3000 persons displaced during an overnight attack by suspected herdsmen.
The killings in Benue have attracted national outrage and global attention from Pope Leo XIV who condemned the “terrible massacre” and called for an end to it.
