By Praise Afolabi
Once hailed as Nigeria’s “food basket,” Benue has become a graveyard of deserted farms, shattered communities, and displaced families. From Makurdi to Guma, Logo, Agatu, Kwande, and Ukum, the fear of bullets and cattle hooves now outweighs worries about rainfall or pests.
According to the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), more than 1.5 million people have been uprooted from their homes, many crammed into makeshift camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Behind those numbers lie stories of devastation.
In Kwande, 52-year-old maize farmer Terna Iorver recalls keeping “one eye on the crops and the other on the bush, ready to run at the sound of gunshots.” In Logo, widow and mother of four, Mnena Utoo, lost her husband and farm after armed herders attacked her village. Now, she gathers firewood to feed her children in a camp.
The stories echo across the state. Rice farmer John Edor saw his seven-hectare field trampled before he fled Agatu. Groundnut farmer Veronica Orban said her husband was shot while escaping Guma. Yam farmer Joseph Ikyo buried his father after he refused to abandon their farm in Katsina-Ala. Cassava farmer Tertsea Kighir watched his three hectares vanish to grazing cattle overnight.
From beekeepers in Kwande to millet farmers in Apa, livelihoods have been erased. “From a provider to a beggar – that is what this conflict has turned us into,” Edor lamented.
Governor Hyacinth Alia has pledged tighter security in collaboration with the Federal Government, noting that the crisis is not unique to Benue but part of a wider North-Central tragedy. Yet survivors argue that military operations and vigilante groups remain inadequate. “The attackers strike quickly and vanish; we sleep in turns at night,” said Gwer West farmer Alice Tor.
Experts warn that if farmers continue to abandon their land, Nigeria risks deeper food insecurity. “This is not just a Benue problem; it is a national crisis,” Tor stressed.
For many displaced farmers, the dream is heartbreakingly modest: to return home, plant without fear, and feed their families again. As Gboko farmer Geoffrey Luga put it: “All we want is peace and protection. Is that too much to ask?”
