MACBAN differs as SEMA says herders killed 5,138 in Benue

The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Fulani socio‑cultural organisation, commonly known as Miyetti Allah, and the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria have denounced as “baseless” and “untrue” the allegations that members of their associations were responsible for the killing of 5,138 Benue citizens during Governor Samuel Ortom’s administration. Their sharp reaction follows a Monday statement by Dr. Emmanuel Shior, the Executive Secretary of the Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), who claimed that suspected herders were behind the deaths.

Speaking to journalists in the state capital, Makurdi, Dr. Shior addressed the humanitarian situation that has unfolded since the Ortom‑led administration began about eight years ago. He noted that 18 of Benue’s 23 local government areas had been attacked by suspected armed herders, resulting in 5,138 deaths since 2015. The breakdown he provided was as follows: 1,177 deaths in 2015; 809 in 2016; 43 in 2017; 440 in 2018; 174 in 2019; 88 in 2020; 2,131 in 2021; 172 in 2022; and, from January 2023 to date, 104 deaths. Dr. Shior expressed regret that renewed attacks had occurred in several local government areas shortly after the presidential and National Assembly elections.

In response, Miyetti Allah General Secretary Saleh Alhassan told The … that SEMA’s accusation was “baseless and politically‑motivated.” He warned that the association was waiting for Ortom to finish his tenure so that he could be dragged before the International Criminal Court in The Hague for “genocide.” Alhassan argued that Ortom’s government was responsible for killing herders, citing a record of members being killed by police in Benue. He claimed the government, now nearing the end of its term, was attempting to blame innocent herders for its own incompetence, adding that the herders Shior referred to were “a figment of his imagination.”

National President of MACBAN, Baba Ngelzarma, also said that figures on the number of its members killed by the Benue government would be released soon. “We have the number of herdsmen killed by the (Benue) government in the years under review. We know how many people the crisis has consumed, and we will furnish the public with the figures soon,” he said.