A civil society organization, TAKULUKU ANYAM AZENGA Advocacy Organisation, has called on President Bola Tinubu to take immediate and decisive action to halt what it described as a genocide against the Tiv people in Benue state.
The group made the demand on Tuesday during a press conference in Makurdi, the Benue state capital.
Bem Ugoh, convener of the organization, expressed deep concern over recent attacks on Tiv communities across Benue, Taraba, and Nasarawa states, describing them as “barbaric” and “tantamount to a full-blown war for ethnic cleansing”.
“The Tiv people have become vulnerable to combined attacks of intertribal hostilities, inter-communal conflict, and the terrible invasion by marauding Fulani arsonists masquerading as herdsmen,” Ugoh said.
He said the ongoing violence reflects a disregard for the anti-open grazing law enacted by the Benue State House of Assembly, lamenting that the law has not been effectively enforced.
“This is inconceivable to tolerate. Continued trespass of Benue communities violates the already established anti-open grazing law.
“However, it is becoming clearer that this effective law has suffered non-enforcement and implementation hurdles, hence the notoriety of marauding herders and the apparent indifference of law enforcement agencies, who are neither protecting unsuspecting victims nor apprehending the culprits,” he said.
Ugoh called on the federal government to strengthen security agencies to enforce the law and protect vulnerable communities.
He urged the National Assembly to set up a high-powered investigative team to examine what he described as “persisting existential threats against the Tiv people”.
The group also rejected any narrative suggesting Fulani ownership of land in the Benue valley.
Ugoh emphasized that the Tiv people are the original inhabitants of the region, with documented settlement history predating colonial times.
He described claims of Fulani land ownership in the area as “a wrong narrative taken too far”.
He called on the federal government to support survivors of the attacks through rehabilitation, reconstruction, and resettlement initiatives.
According to the group, justice, protection and long-term assistance for the affected communities are necessary and urgent.
The article was originally published on Politics Nigeria.
