Amnesty International has reported that approximately 2,600 people, mostly women and children, were killed in attacks on 50 communities in Benue State between January 2023 and February 2024.
The organization’s Programme Director, Barbara Magaji, disclosed this during a photo exhibition and press conference held on Wednesday in Makurdi. She revealed that 18 out of the 23 local government areas (LGAs) in the state were persistently under threat from armed attackers.
“These attacks are significantly affecting food security and livelihoods because the affected communities are farmers, and displacement makes them unable to carry out any farming activity,” Magaji stated.
She emphasized that the forced displacement of residents had severe consequences on their livelihoods and had deprived thousands of children of access to education and development. According to her, as of March 2023, the last recorded count showed that Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps and host communities housed a total of 489,245 displaced individuals.
Citing figures from the state’s Ministry of Education and the Teaching Service Board, Magaji further revealed that at least 55 schools had either been destroyed by armed groups or shut down due to insecurity, leaving hundreds of children unable to attend school.
She urged Nigerian authorities to take urgent action to end the attacks and protect lives. “Governments at all levels must ensure these attacks are investigated and justice is given to the victims and their families,” she said.
Magaji also called for the prosecution of perpetrators of human rights abuses through fair trials and demanded an investigation into the security lapses that allowed such attacks to occur unchecked.
“People who are displaced must be provided with adequate humanitarian support, a decent standard of living, and uninterrupted education for their children,” she added.
Meanwhile, in a goodwill message, the Commanding Officer of the 72 Special Forces Battalion, R.B. Kefas, represented by Danjuma Abba, stated that security forces had made significant progress in curbing criminal activities in the crisis-prone areas and promised that such efforts would be sustained.
Similarly, the Benue State Commissioner of Police, Steve Yabanet, represented by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Okon Asuquo, assured that the police were working tirelessly to reduce crime in the state to the barest minimum.
NAN