Argues Farmer-herder Clash Theory Deployed as False Narrative
By Ekani Olikita
(Makurdi) Franc Utoo, a Yelwata native, has accused Nigerian Security Agencies of conniving with Fulani Militia in the ceaseless killing of Benue residents
“Fulani officials in the military do participate in attacks by Fulani jihadists on Benue Communities, and the military usually go after their local youths who arm themselves with pipe guns to defend their people,” according to Utoo, a University of Central Oklahoma Research specialist.
Fulani terrorists deliberately refuse to obey the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of Benue State not because they cannot afford to purchase ranches for their cattle but because they want to use violence to take Benue Land, he argues.
“People who don’t understand what is going on in Benue state, keep on asking, ‘why are our youths not fighting back as Fulani terrorists continue to kill our people?’”
“The truth is that there is a very thick conspiracy against our people and other minorities in Nigeria in states such as Plateau, Taraba and Southern Kaduna right from the establishment (government of Nigeria),” Utoo told TruthNigeria.
“During the administration of Former Governor Gabriel Suswam (2007-2015) Benue Youths had considerable number of arms to defend our people, and that was why Fulani Militia couldn’t overrun any of our communities, but they were later disarmed by the government of Former Governor Samuel Ortom (2015-2023), which made Benue communities vulnerable,” he went on to say.
“For example, the detachments of soldiers that are always deployed to Yelwata, always come with one mission: to go after our youths and disarm them,” he added.
“Anytime Fulani terrorists attack our community, and they are repelled, the soldiers will go after our youths who repelled the Jihadists and disarm them. Over the years, our youths were massively disarmed. Our youths no longer have automatic weapons except Dane guns (locally made pipe guns), and bows and arrows against the Jihadists who are well armed with automatic weapons such as AK-47, AK-49, rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) and even anti-aircraft guns,” Utoo added.
Evidence of Military Colluding with Fulani terrorists
Utoo further said; “Sometimes in 2022 when I was serving under Former Governor Samuel Ortom’s administration as his Principal Special Assistant (PSA) on Politics, I was going to Yelwata anytime there was an attack. There was one attack by Fulani Jihadists that was repelled by the Commander of the soldiers there, Staff Sergeant Kingsley, resulting in the death of 13 attackers. What I discovered was that 2 of the 13 terrorists killed were serving military officers of the Fulani tribe with their Identity cards displaced on their chests,” Utoo said.
“Two weeks before the last Yelwata attack that took place between June 13 and June 24, 2025, resulting in the death of more than 200 of our people, my late father’s friend, Mr Ulam, who retired from the military service and decided to retire in his village was killed by Fulani terrorists along with his wife and son who were slashed to death,” Utoo said.
“A day after the attack that consumed Ulam and his family, a woman residing near Yelwata and saw a Fulani man riding a motorcycle with blood splashed on all parts of his clothes,” according to Utoo.
“She alerted the youth, the vigilante (community guards), and they accosted the Fulani man. During investigation, he confessed that he was one of those who carried out the attack on Yelwata the previous day, adding that he was given the motorcycle by a Fulani soldier stationed at Udei, named Suleiman.
“Nothing has been heard about Suleiman since his arrest,” according to Utoo.
Tactics of Attackers Explained
Utoo argues that the recurrent waves of Fulani attacks are an orchestrated effort to conquer nearly the entirety of Benue land.
“The Fulani Herdsmen who are usually used as advanced spies by the militant Fulani Wing, are violating the law not because they cannot afford to purchase ranches but because they want to cause violence so that their stand-by militant wing could strike and then take over our land,” he said.
The Fulani militia have organized themselves into three wings namely, the Herder Wing (the Advanced Spies) who disguise as herdsmen with their cattle, second, the Militant Wing, and third, the Kidnappers, according to Utoo.
“Prior to any attack, the herders go around studying the environment, collecting information and passing it to the Militant Wing (Jihadists or Terrorists) who are the killers and then to the Kidnappers Wing, who kidnap for ransom to raise funds. to Their cause is the total invasion and takeover of our land,” Utoo said. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, more than 3 trillion Naira was paid for ransom last year alone”
“These people have sponsors who buy or rent for them hundreds of AK-47 assault rifles. That sum spent is more than enough to establish ranches, which is the best model of animal husbandry globally, but because they are hellbent to take over our land, establish Islamic caliphates and subjugate our people, they refuse to make that investment,” Utoo said.
“According to them, they want to continue from where their founding father or torchbearer, Usman dan Fodio stopped,” according to Utoo.
Dispute over Farmer-Herder vs Jihadist Imperative of Usman dan Fodio
The claim that the motivation of Fulani ethnic militia is sectarian and jihadist has been routinely disputed by scholars at think tanks such as International Crisis Group who insist that the motivation of the thousands of attacks on farming communities is a dispute over land resources. Their confident reports are reposted in the annual report of the U.S. Mission in Abuja.
Amnesty International, one of the best-funded human rights organizations in the world insists that land use is the core issue in the tens of thousands of attacks on farming communities in the Middle Belt, which are chiefly Christian and in the Northwestern States which are majority Muslim. Yet Amnesty International refuses to identify the ethnicity and the religion of the Fulani terrorists, citing in its reports that the massacre in Benue on June 14 were “gunmen” only, so as not to give up the ruse: Amnesty well knows that its reports are misleading.
Utoo, who is a scheduled speaker at a press conference in Washington Thursday at 10:00 a.m. at the National Press Club is blowing the whistle on years of false narrative.
“The plan of the Fulani terrorists, which is supported by their elites in the Nigerian establishment will never work. Anybody that describes this deadly violence as Farmer/Herder Crisis is a Co-Conspirator, a Coward or a Traitor,” he said.
New Documentary Exposes Nigerian Genocide
A New Documentary exposing Nigerian Genocide, carefully put forward by the #EquippingThePersecuted, a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, dedicated to aiding persecuted Christians in Nigeria, will hold a Press Conference and premiere a groundbreaking documentary detailing the recent massacre of more than 270 Christians in the village of Yelewata, Benue State
The event will take place Thursday, July 24 at 10:00 a.m. at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
The press conference will feature firsthand accounts, exclusive investigative footage, and evidence of government complicity and military negligence. The presentation will be led by Judd Saul, Executive Director of Equipping the Persecuted, and Lara Logan, Award-Winning War Correspondent known for her bold reporting on terrorism and conflict zones.
Special guests will include:
· Franc Utoo and Stephen Enada, a survivor of persecution in Benue State and Co-Founder of the International Committee on Nigeria (ICON).
This event marks the first public showing of video testimony and satellite intelligence related to the June 14 massacre—widely regarded as one of the most devastating attacks on Christians in Nigeria this year.
Ekani Olikita, a Conflict Reporter for TruthNigeria
