The Concourse
By Soney Antai
Benue burning; it shouldn’t be buried
For most folks, only news with geographical and consanguine proximity to them is what attracts and keeps their attention. Man’s innate selfishness makes this so. But Johnn Donne disagrees; I also disagree. Writing in his “Devotions upon Emergent Occasions”, Donne postulated that, “No man is an island, entire of itself.” He went on to submit, rather sombrely, “Any man’s death
diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.” That for this column, is unity of humanity. It’s a call for unanimity of the human community; it’s also a demand for human synergy and oneness. Donne speaks of humanity’s interconnectivity, insufficiency, and mortality, and I think that is irrefragable.
Donne (1572 to 1631) was an English writer, soldier and clergyman. Though he wrote those lines in 1623, the thoughts he expressed are still invaluable today; they still speak to those with ears and discernment. Donne warns against arrogance of life, and submits that we can assume our autarky at auto-peril; for as experience has shown us over aeons, nobody lives here forever; we are all birds of passage.
Benue State in the North Central geopolitical zone of our country has for years come under persistent bloodletting with thousands killed and displaced in the last decade. The Nigerian media have framed this as herder-farmer clashes and they think that is chic; but the victims, and indeed humanity, doesn’t think so because that is a wrong diagnosis of the crises.
The worst of the killings were reported to have taken place 13th June, 2025, in Yelwata, a farming community in the State, where close to 200 persons were said to have been slaughtered in a well coordinated attack that left people of conscience across the world in utter shock and disbelief. The Tor Tiv (paramount ruler-cum-kuler-king of the Tiv Nation), James Ortese Iorzua Ayatse, while addressing President Bola Tinubu, who visited the State on Wednesday, 18th June, described the attacks as a genocidal land-grabbing invasion by bandits. He was tactfully disagreeing with Mr President, who was calling for peace and inclusive governance for all residents of Benue. But the president also gave marching orders to bring the perpetrators of the mass slaughter to justice. That seems to be yielding fruits now as the police have made some arrests. But the security agents there didn’t have to dally over such existential danger to the people of that State. We are talking of human lives here; we are talking of unprovoked massacre here.
Quite curiously, those who always claim to speak for Arewa have developed cold feet, sealed lips and withered hands, except for some tepid reactions here and there full of air and empty of substance. But why is this allowed to fester in a country whose armed forces have served creditably in nations like the Congo, Sierra Leone, and Liberia? Who are sponsoring these killings and why can’t we track them down and exact the full price for murder from them?
Let those of us not directly affected by the killings in Benue not think that we are safe from all alarm because there is neither geographic nor consanguine proximity and affinity with the victims of the blood letting. Rather, we should be concerned about what is gradually turning Benue into a pool of blood that never dries. Let the cries of the bereaved, the wailings of the orphans and widows bring us back to our common humanity. A neighbour who takes a stroll from his house when his neighbour’s house is aflame should not be surprised to see his own house on fire, when they return from their stroll.
The situation in Benue is not only affecting those there. It has affected food security as the farming communities have been forced to flee their homes. Remember, that State has been christened the ‘Food Basket of Nigeria.’ Besides, Government is also being perceived as being complicit in the imbroglio. Moreover, it has taken on a sectarian colouration. Even in the international media, it is being read as Islamists murdering Christians with the complicity of a central government headed by Muslims. This is not good for our country.
This country has the men and materials to deal decisively with the mass killers. It is the political will to impose the full capacity of our sovereignty that is needed. There is no need to talk of peace without first bringing to justice the perpetrators of the repeated carnage in Benue State. Those communities now said to have been taken over by the invaders should be cleared of them and the aborigines returned to their ancestral homelands. As Peter Tosh sings, it should not be the case of “Everyone is crying out for peace, yet, none is crying out for justice.” I think the people of Benue need peace that is burnished in the fire of justice and equal rights. The time to act is now.