A senior Advocate of Nigeria, Sabastin Hon has called for an urgent overhaul of security operations in Benue state to save the people from the activities of armed Fulani militia.
In a letter addressed to the a chief of Defence staff, the Inspector General of Police and Dirextor General of Department of state services, the senior Lawyer said Operation Whirl which was put in place to check the security situation in Benue and Nasarawa states was no longer effective.
The letter titled “URGENT NEED TO OVERHAUL SECURITY OPERATIONS IN BENUE STATE” reads:
I hereby write to you with a very heavy heart as an indigene of Benue State who is VERY SORELY WORRIED by the ongoing security challenges in my State. My chief point of worry has to do with the operations of your elite joint military action in Benue State, code-named “OPERATION WHIRLSTROKE.”
Kindly recall that this special strike force commenced operations in Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba and Zamfara States on May 8, 2018. The then Acting Director of Defence Information, Brigadier-General Johsn Agim, had informed journalists at the Tactical Air Command, Makurdi, that the outfit consisted of “all the military services, police and Department of State Services (DSS).” Attached hereto is an online version of Channels TV Report, marked Annexure 1.
The constitution of this military body was celebrated by the Government of Benue State, because its predecessor, the “Ayem Kpatuma,” had become flatfooted in its fight against herdsmen attacks and militancy. The Daily Trust online report of this is hereto attached and marked Annexure 2.
In July 2019, the then Commander of Operation Whirl Stroke, Major General Adeyemi Yekini, gleefully announced that his organisation had eliminated 145 bandits and arrested 223 others. He further announced that the outfit had recovered 194 weapons. An online publication by The Nation, which reported this, is hereto attached and marked Annexure 3.
The modest achievements of the outfit saw the then Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, and his Nasarawa counterpart, Abdullahi Sule, resisting the mooted attempt by the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to scrap or disband it. Hereto attached is an online report of The Punch Newspaper. It is marked Annexure 4.
However, Benue State has suddenly been experiencing a steady and ceaseless dwindling performance by this elite military group – a situation that is growing worse by the day. Confirmation of this can be found in an online publication of Daily Trust on January 20, 2024, wherein it was reported that two soldiers of Operation Whirl Stroke and two civilians were killed by “armed invaders.” A copy of the said publication is hereto attached and marked as Annexure 5.
In a strong-worded Editorial, Leadership Newspaper, quoting Amnesty International, condemned the killing of “about 2,600 persons, mostly women and children,” following attacks on 50 communities in Benue State between January, 2023 and February, 2024. A copy thereof is hereto attached and marked Annexure 6.
The Tribune Online of March 28, 2024, quoted the Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, of undertaking to liaise with the Army high command to establish a military post around troubled communities in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State. A copy thereof is hereto attached and marked Annexure 7. Till date, no such post has been established and I cannot fathom whether it is the military that has rejected the idea, or it is the Governor that has failed in his undertaking.
Without rummaging through a long history, it was very delighting to read that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Olufemi Oluyede, on a recent official visit to Makurdi, the Benue State capital, had directed men and officers of Operation Whirl Stroke to decisively tackle all security threats in Benue and neighbouring States. An online report of this by the Daily Post of the directive of the Chief of Army Staff is hereto attached and marked Annexure 8.
SELECTIVE AND POOR OPERATIONS OF RECENT
Also, following the spike in the murder of innocent farmers in Gwer West, the Army established a new outpost at Mbalom, Gwer West, in March, 2024. An online publication the Blueprint Newspaper, which reported this, is hereto attached and marked Annexure 9.
Less than three weeks after the Chief of Army Staff gave this strong directive, it was reported in the press that the special military outfit gunned down three suspected herdsmen who attacked personnel of the outfit. An online report of this by Premium Times is hereto attached and marked Annexure 9.
This seems, to the best of my knowledge, to be the most unbiased operation of the outfit in recent times. Perhaps, it is because soldiers had lost their lives!
The Punch Newspaper online of April 16, 2025 reported that dozens of people were killed by the Fulani herders in Otobi Community of Otukpo LGA, Benue State. A copy of the newspaper is hereto attached as Annexure 10.
The BBC Pidgin English reported on April 20, 2025 that herdsmen attacks on Logo and Gbagir claimed 56 lives. A copy of the said publication is hereto attached as Annexure 11. Al Jazeera’s earlier online report of April 19, 2025 had quoted the same number of casualties. A copy thereof is hereto attached and marked Annexure 12. However, on April 23, the Businessday online reported that the death toll had reached 70. A copy thereof is hereto attached and marked Annexure 13. It has been widely speculated that these figures are deliberately played down/reduced, for inexplicable reasons.
The New Telegraph reported online on May 23, 2025 that another set of two soldiers and two other persons were killed in Apa by suspected bandits. A copy thereof is hereto attached and marked Annexure 14.
On May 12, 2025, France 24 reported that at least 23 people were killed in Ukum, Logo, Guma and Kwande Local Government Areas by the invaders. A copy thereof is hereto attached and marked Annexure 15.
The Daily Trust of May 13, 2025 had reported that in a short space of 41 days, 166 persons had been killed in various Local Government Areas of Benue State. A copy thereof is hereto attached and marked Annexure 16.
The Daily Trust of May 18, 2025 reported that at least 15 traders were killed in Agatu Local Government Area by the invaders. A copy thereof is hereto attached and marked Annexure 17.
While I support a wholistic and an unbiased stamping out of all forms of armed banditry in Benue State and Nigeria in general, it does appear to me that Operation Whirl Stroke is currently not interested in tackling the real security challenge confronting the State: the invasion in large numbers of heavily armed Fulani herdsmen, who have been killing and taking over the farmlands of innocent and poor farmers. I will establish this anon.
(a) The moment the new leadership of Operation Whirl Stroke took over in Benue State, they started selectively attacking local/indigenous militia gangs, without doing anything about the widespread and unconscionable murder of Benue people by Fulani herdsmen. Find attached an online publication of Core Reporters, marked as Annexure 18.
(b) Killings in the State by the invaders have become a daily occurrence; and no one is challenging the murderers. Benue people are greeted daily by/with reports of their loved ones being killed, maimed, attacked and dislocated from their ancestral lands. What a big existential challenge to the good people of Benue State!
(c) Contrariwise, online Facebook postings have suggested the arrest and harassment of innocent indigenous villagers by officers and men of Operation Whirl Stroke for flimsy reasons.
MORE SELF-IMPOSED CONFUSION
Very intriguing is the fact that, in September, 2023, the Nigerian Army 4 Special Forces Command in Doma, Nasarawa State, inaugurated a separate outfit code-named “OPERATION PLANNING CADRE” to tackle insecurity in Nasarawa and Benue States. An online publication of PM News of September 19, 2023 on this is hereto attached and marked Annexure 19. The question here is whether this has resulted in conflicting operations, the consequence of which is the extremely poor outing by the joint military operations in Benue State.
Contrary to the initial concept of Operation Whirl Stroke which consisted of joint military, police and DSS actions, the Benue State Governor, in collaboration with the Police high command, recently sent very few police officers to some of the troubled areas in the State – on motorcycles! Result: more deaths and massive destruction of properties by the invaders!
CONCLUSION: EXTREME DESPERATENESS OF THE SITUATION
The Tiv Area Traditional Council, having run out of patience, issued a warning to the herders to leave Tiv ancestral lands by the end of May, 2025. Daily Post online report of this is hereto attached as Annexure 20.
The Idoma Traditional Council was not even willing to give more time to the invaders; hence it asked them to leave Idoma land immediately! Daily Post online report of this is hereto attached as Annexure 21.
As an apparent response to the ultimatums by the Tiv Area Traditional Council and the Idoma Traditional Council, there is an all-out invasion of Benue State by armed herders, leading to many fatalities. On May 25, 2025, Rev. Fr. Solomon Atongo, was attacked on his way to Naka from Makurdi. Believing he was shot dead, the herders left him to die from his gunshot wounds. He was lucky to have been rescued after several hours by security operators and taken to hospital. A copy of The Punch online report on this is hereto attached as Annexure 22.
On May 26, 2025, hundreds of armed herders, in another defiant move, travelled on motorcycles for close to 50 kilometers without restraint and attacked Aondona Village in Gwer West LGA, killing dozens of people and sacking the Catholic Church there. The Facebook (X) is replete with reports of this heinous attacks. At least one of such postings, dotted with gory pictures of some of the fatalities, is hereto attached as Annexure 2.
At least a quarter of Benue State has been forcefully occupied by these herders. The indigenous people have been made wanderers and refugees in their motherland!
Where will your conscience be if Benue indigenous people are wiped off the world map and history books? Where humanity? Are Benue people not Nigerians over which your security powers and apparatuses extend? Please and please, think twice, possibly trice!
Clearly, the situation is getting out of hand; and the time for you to act is now, Sirs!
Yours faithfully,
PROF. SEBASTINE T. HON, SAN, FCIArb., DSSRS
(Sorrowing Benue indigene)
