The three socio-cultural groups in Benue State have called for a traditional self-defence mechanism to curb the protracted killings gripping the state.
The President General of the groups, Mdzough U Tiv, Ochitoha K’Idoma, and Om’Igede, Iorbee Ihagh, said it was time for the people to resort to the Tiv traditional way of confronting enemies.
Ihagh’s call came amid incessant killings of the Benue people by Fulani militias
On June 13, 2025, the assailants attacked Yelewata community in Guma Local Government Area of the state, killing over 200 people and displacing hundreds more.
Sunday PUNCH gathered that the continued wave of insecurity disrupted the delivery of key capital projects in various parts of the state during the first quarter of 2025.
The persistent insecurity has triggered outrage across the country and reportedly pushed some youths in the state to resort to self-help measures.
Findings revealed that some prominent individuals in the state have begun arming the youths in a bid to defend their communities.
Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, Ihagh said the Benue people had defeated their enemies through the traditional method in the past.
“Tiv people defeated their enemies, particularly during the jihad war of 1804, and this was done through the Tiv traditional method. So, if we employ self-defence, it means we must be ready to die.
It is either we die first or the enemy dies. We did it before and we will do it again,” the retired Comptroller of Prisons said.
Ihagh added that resorting to self-help has become necessary, given the government’s failure to protect the lives and property of the people.
Also, the Chairman of the Traditional Council of Gwer West, Daniel Abomtse, urged the government to allow the people to bear arms.
“If the government allows our people to be mobilised for self-help, it will enable residents to confront their enemies right at the point of entry,” he said.
This is as the lawmaker representing Guma Constituency in the state House of Assembly, Peter Uche, called for more patience in light of the recent commitment shown by the Federal Government to address the security crisis.
While cautioning against self-help, Uche noted that no president had demonstrated the level of commitment President Bola Tinubu had shown so far on the matter.
“Truly, there was agitation for self-help when we realised we had to take our safety very seriously.
“But with the president’s commitment and the arrest of over 50 suspects, no president has ever shown this level of dedication. So, we need to be patient and see what the government will do,” the lawmaker said.
Meanwhile, findings by Sunday PUNCH revealed that the security challenges have limited the budget performance of the state.
The state government had budgeted N550bn for 2025, with N192.5bn earmarked for recurrent expenditure and N357.6bn, which forms the larger part of the budget.
Based on the budget estimates, the state was expected to carry out projects worth N89bn in the first quarter, representing 25 per cent of the total capital vote.
However, investigations showed that only N23.3bn projects, representing just 6.5 per cent of the capital allocation could be executed due to the “persistent attacks from armed herders across the state”.
This was contained in the state’s 2025 first-quarter budget implementation report, obtained from Open Nigerian States, a platform supported by BudgIT that houses public budget data.
“For the first quarter of 2025, actual capital expenditure amounted to N23.3bn, representing a performance rate of 6.5 per cent against the approved capital budget for the period under review.
“Although the 2025 capital budget was increased by over N100 billion to stimulate aggressive urban and especially rural infrastructural development, implementation in the first quarter was significantly low.
“The poor performance was largely due to the overwhelming insecurity challenges faced by the state during the reporting period,” the report stated.(Punch)
