Traditional Ruler Gunned Down, Fueling Fears of Ethnic Cleansing in Benue
By Mike Odeh James and Ekani Olikita
(Makurdi) Chief Anthony Adejo, the traditional ruler of Odugbeho in Benue State, was gunned down in cold blood on his farmland by heavily armed Fulani ethnic militia on May 7 —four years after narrowly escaping a massacre in his home village that claimed dozens of lives.
Speaking to TruthNigeria, Ochoche Adah, one of the farm workers who barely escaped the attack, recounted the chilling events.
“They Hunted Him Like an Animal”
“We arrived at 8:00 a.m. He was with his wife and a young man—Jeremiah Danjuma. We started clearing weeds. Around 10:25 a.m., we heard gunfire like thunder. Bullets flew everywhere. The Chief was hit in the chest—again and again,” Ochoche said.
“He fell to the ground but got up and attempted to run. The Fulani gunmen approached and pumped more bullets into his chest at close range. It was brutal.”
“We ran in all directions, the witness told TruthNigeria. “I saw them chase Jeremiah into the bush like a wild animal. They shot him too. There was no mercy. Only hatred.”
The gruesome ambush, on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, along the Otobi-Akpa road in Otukpo County, also claimed the life of Jeremiah Danjuma, a community leader from nearby Apa County. Both men were riddled with bullets and left for dead in a cassava field.
Chief Adejo’s fate is particularly tragic: a man who fled the horrific Odugbeho Massacre on June 7, 2021—when 40 Christians were butchered with machetes and rifles — only to be killed years later by the same Fulani militants he once escaped.
“It is an abomination for a Chief to be slaughtered by heathens,” said Odeh Edor, a native of Odugbeho. “He ran from fire and still got consumed by it. He begged to return home, but our village was still crawling with Fulani death squads.”
A devout Catholic and father of five, Chief Adejo never gave up hope of returning to his ancestral land. That dream ended in a hail of bullets, on the very soil he sought refuge in—and ultimately died defending.
“Since the Quit Notice, They’ve Been Killing Without Restraint”
Odeh Edor, a farmer and elder at ECWA Church in Otukpo-Icho, told TruthNigeria that at least ten high-profile Idoma Christians have been murdered by Fulani terrorists in just the past 12 days.
The fatalities include:
1. Chief Anthony Adejo, District Head of Odugbeho, Agatu County
2. Jeremiah Danjuma, youth leader from Apa County
3. Oche Ochohepo James, community activist
4. Pastor Philip Onyejefu Oigocho, hacked to death near his church
5. Emmanuel Odumu, 34-year-old farmer from Iga Okpaya
6. Emmanuel Adoma, member of Living Faith Church, Otukpo and father of three, killed on his farm
7. Adanu John from Asaba community in Apa county
8. Oloche Stephen from Obinda (Apa)
9. Innocent Onuminya from Opaha (Apa)
10. Inalegwu John from Odugbo community (Apa)
“Though I don’t have the complete list, more bodies are being pulled from the forest each day,” Edor said.
“It’s like the terrorists are retaliating for being asked to leave. Since the order was issued, the Fulani have intensified their campaign of killing, hacking, and kidnapping,” Edor said.
“Tired of Burying Our Brothers and Sisters”
Monday Ocheme, a Sunday School teacher at Methodist Church, Ogwule-Kaduna, corroborated Edor’s claims.
“These killings began just days after firm eviction notices were issued to Fulani militias across Benue South,” Ocheme said.
The notices were issued by Melvin Ejeh James, Chairman of Agatu County; Ogwola Ochega, Chairman of Apa County; and the National President of the Ochetoha K’Idoma Youth Wing, the umbrella organization representing the Idoma ethnic nationality.
“Our people are being hunted like animals,” Ocheme said. “We gave the marching orders because we are tired of burying our brothers and sisters.”
Civil Society Coalition Warns of Ethnic Cleansing in Benue
A coalition of 22 civil society organizations has raised alarm over what it describes as a “campaign of systematic ethnic cleansing” in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. Speaking at a press briefing in Kaduna, the “Civic Coalition Against Mass Atrocities in the Middle Belt” accused the Nigerian government of failing to stem a wave of killings, mass abductions, and forced displacements in Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, and Southern Kaduna.
“This is not random violence—it’s a deliberate strategy to seize land, erase indigenous communities, and alter electoral demographics,” said Barr. Gloria Mabaeia Ballason, the coalition’s spokesperson.
According to the group, more than 20,000 square kilometers of farmland have been forcibly occupied, displacing thousands and threatening Nigeria’s food security. The violence, they argue, is timed to influence the 2027 elections and manipulate the upcoming national census by excluding displaced populations.
Ballason identified three key triggers: political interests tied to the 2027 elections, the upcoming census, and the controversial creation of a Federal Ministry of Livestock, which many view as legitimizing land seizures by militant herders.
The coalition also reported expanding attacks in Niger and Kwara States by armed groups such as the Lakurawa and Mahmuda factions, warning of a wider humanitarian crisis.
Among its 12 prescriptions, the coalition called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to coordinate Middle Belt security efforts, deploy drone surveillance, reform firearms laws to empower local defense, and establish a Special Crisis Accountability Bureau to prosecute atrocities.
“This is not just a local conflict—it’s a war on Nigeria’s sovereignty,” Ballason said. “If unchecked, the consequences will destabilize the region and ripple far beyond Nigeria’s borders.”
The statement was endorsed by 22 organizations, including the House of Justice, Gideon and Funmi Para-Mallam Foundation, Resilience Aid Initiative, and Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
Mike Odeh James and Ekani Olikita are conflict reporters for TruthNigeria.
