$3,200 Gifted to Widows of Fallen Heros, But Thousands of Others Left Uncompensated
By Ekani Olikita and Mike Odeh James
(Makurdi) Mourning and weeping engulf Benue State once again as the State Government confirms killing of 76 security officials by Fulani terrorists in one year.
The Governor of Benue State, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia (a former Catholic Priest) on September 5, 2025, while announcing donation of 5 million Naira (3,200 USD) to each family of the fallen heroes revealed that the state has lost 76 security officials to armed Fulani Ethnic Militia between 2024 and 2025, a revelation that ignited another round of agony among the bereaved families of the fallen heroes and hundreds of women who are now widows due to Fulani Terrorism.
“We appreciate the sacrifice made by these fallen heroes to defend the territory of the State and ensure that the citizenry live in peace. It is a heavy burden, but we will continue this journey with you,” Gov Alia said during the heart-touching event.
Benue, an agrarian and a predominantly Christian State (99 percent Christian 98 percent Catholic) with a population of 4.3 million, is famous for its massive harvests of rice, maize, yam, cassava, beans, Soya mills, and fruits, is in Central Nigeria, a part of the Middle Belt region of Nigeria.
The Christian State of Benue along with other Middle belt states has come under frequent attacks, kidnappings and killings since 2013 by Fulani ethnic militia, whose leadership has never been identified by federal officials or Nigerian media. The Fulani tribe is known across West Africa for cattle-herding and linkage to regional jihad wars. According to the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA), the Fulani ethnic militia are the cause of 55,000 deaths in the last four years.
Brother of One of the Fallen Heroes Speaks
But that gesture is but a drop in the ocean, according to Patrick Modom Ayilla, former Youth Leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State and brother to Ernest Tyolumun Ayila, an officer with the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, who was killed by Fulani Ethnic Militia on July 9, 2025. Ayila praised Gov Alia for the Five Million Naira (3,200 USD) donation to the Ayila family.
“The gruesome murder of my brother Ernest Tyolumun Ayila has really traumatized our family and has brought an untold hardship to his immediate family. He left with us his wife, Vivian Tavershima Iember Ayila, two sons, Tyolumun Ka-uter Aaron Ayila and Tyolumun Terkuma Daniel Ayila. Schools have resumed but there’s no money to pay their school fees yet. Our younger brother is currently in the hospital and we are battling for his survival. No help is coming from nowhere,” Ayila said in a phone interview.
“We appreciate the Governor’s effort, but the donation will only do little to help the family,” Modom said.
The Forgotten Widows
But critics say the governor’s relief package covered only security personnel.
“The list you see from the governor does not include innocent widows from Agatu, Otukpo, Otobi Akpa, Gwer West, and Yelewata,” Chief Omale, an Idoma Tribal Leader based in Otukpo told TruthNigeria. “These are Christian widows who have nobody to help them. We now have something like over 3,000 widows — a conservative estimate — in Benue State. They have been abandoned and left alone,” the Chief said.
“As we speak, there are more widows in Agatu and Apa counties than men or women — and most of them are young widows. As of February, this year, we documented over 1,000 widows whose husbands were killed by Fulani terrorists in these two counties,” Mike Alidu Magaji, National President of the Idoma Youths Forum, told TruthNigeria.
Magaji said the violence has destroyed education and farming in Benue South.
“Schools have been destroyed, and when they are rebuilt, no one can attend because their fathers are gone. There is hunger in Benue South, especially in the Idoma-speaking counties. Farmers have been driven off their lands. Many are killed, and women who dare to farm are raped and murdered,” he said.
“Those widows and orphans are left hopeless, homeless, and without assistance from either the state or federal government. Instead, what we hear is the Federal Government asking us to give up our ancestral lands for Fulani grazing. This will never happen, not today, not tomorrow, and never,” Magaji said.
Abandoned Widows Speak
Mrs. Abigail Edoh, 29, from Okokolo in Agatu County, said her husband was killed while returning from Makurdi with food for the family.
“On his way home, about five Fulani jihadists ambushed him, chanting ‘Allahu Akbar.’ They killed him and seized the foodstuffs. Now I am left with three children who no longer go to school,” she said.
Grace Lami Adama, 21, from Otukpo County, married at 18 and lost her husband in an April 2025 during a militia attack on their community. Adama painted a heart-wrenching picture of her ordeals in an interview with TruthNigeria.
“They destroyed our farms, beheaded my husband, and left me with a baby girl,” she said. “I now live in my father’s house with nothing. Government, both state and federal, have refused to come to our aid,” Adama said.
As Benue grapples with ongoing attacks, the governor’s gesture gives some relief to widows of fallen security officers. But for thousands of civilian widows scattered across rural communities, the promise of help remains distant.
In Nigeria’s silent war, the battlefield may end with gunfire, but the scars endure in homes — in widows such as Vivian, Abigail, and Grace, and in children who will never know their fathers, and in a state burdened with unending grief.
Ekani Olikita and Mike Odeh James are Conflict Reporters for TruthNigeria.
