Scores of people were killed in June 2025 in Yelewata, within the Guma I constituency of Benue State, in attacks that displaced thousands and destroyed farmlands. Peter Uche, member representing Guma I in the Benue House of Assembly, disclosed on Friday in Makurdi that the violence had not ceased. He confirmed fresh killings on Wednesday at Imande Dem, where farmers were attacked while working on their farms. The victims were killed in what the lawmaker described as gruesome circumstances.
Mr Uche, speaking after attending the burial of the mother of the state's majority leader, said he planned to visit the affected communities to commiserate with grieving families. He revealed that he had filed multiple motions in the assembly to alert the state's chief security officer about the deteriorating security situation. Despite the existence of an anti-open-grazing law in Benue, Mr Uche stated that herders continue to move freely with their cattle, indicating a lack of enforcement. He emphasized that as a lawmaker, his powers were limited to advocacy and could not enforce laws directly. Security agencies, he noted, had been active but the situation remained dire for the farming population.
Peter Uche's frustration exposes a gaping disconnect between legislation and enforcement in Benue, where an anti-open-grazing law exists in name but not in practice. The fact that herders move freely with cattle despite the law being on the books since 2017 reveals a state apparatus either unwilling or unable to implement its own policies—especially in rural areas like Guma I where governance is weakest.
The continued attacks in farming communities such as Imande Dem and Yelewata are not just about security failure but point to deeper political paralysis. Mr Uche's repeated motions in the assembly suggest institutional efforts are being made, yet no tangible response follows from the executive arm. This stagnation benefits no one but perpetuates cycles of violence, especially against agrarian populations whose livelihoods depend on access to farmland now rendered dangerous.
Ordinary farmers in Benue are paying the highest price—losing lives, land, and livelihoods. With planting and harvesting seasons disrupted, food production in Nigeria's breadbasket is under threat, which could ripple into national food prices and supply. These are not abstract consequences; they are daily realities for families who depend on subsistence farming.
This is not an isolated breakdown but part of a recurring pattern across Nigeria's Middle Belt, where legislative action routinely collapses at the enforcement stage. Lawmakers raise alarms, motions pass, statements are issued—but on the ground, violence persists unchecked.
