By Mike Odeh James and Olikita Ekani
(Makurdi) As Fulani terrorists unleashed a wave of violence in Benue, killing over 17 Christians in less than a month, Security Consultant Adakole Adam of Adakson Security Consultancy, Takum, told TruthNigeria that the militias are “goading and daring” U.S. President Donald Trump after his ultimatum to the Nigerian Government.
Month of Relentless Killings
Adam, who has been tracking attacks across Benue communities, detailed a pattern of coordinated assaults on defenseless civilians.
“On November 4, the violence by Fulani terrorists reached Ado County, where Mr. Thomas Edeh — a local barber and farmer — was shot dead while working on his farm in Rijo village,” Adam said.
A day earlier, on November 3, four residents were killed and several others wounded in Anwule community, Oglewu District of Ohimini County.
“On November 1, Mr. Atindiga Tsebee, a former councilor of Tombo Ward, was ambushed and murdered along the Ayilamo–Anyiin road while returning from a security meeting,” Adam went on to say.
“A member of the Benue State House of Assembly, traveling in the same convoy, narrowly escaped,” he added.
That same day, Fulani terrorists set ablaze a ₦20 million rice plantation at Tse Orbiam in Gwer West County after locals attempted to stop cattle from grazing on the farmland.
The carnage escalated on October 29, when attackers stormed Mberev Ward on the Benue–Taraba border, killing seven villagers and attempting to seize the settlement.
Twenty-four hours earlier, on October 28, the convoy of the Chairman of Kwande County, Hon. Vitalis Neji, was ambushed. Two aides were killed and several others sustained gunshot wounds.
On October 27, two security operatives — Abechi Oche of the Nigeria Forest and Hunters Services and Inspector Akpan Ogbole of Operation Zenda — were shot dead during a stop-and-search operation along the Otukpo–Ohimini highway. Their rifles were taken away.
The month-long bloodshed began on October 18, when Fulani terrorists invaded a village in Ukom County, occupying homes and farmlands. Survivors said the attackers established camps on the seized land and warned villagers never to return.
A Widening Campaign of Terror and Land Grabbing
Adam believes the U.S. President may eventually pressure the Nigerian Government to rein in the militias, but warns that before then, “the terrorists are trying to grab as much land as possible so they can later claim they are indigenes of Benue State.”
Edo Odeh, a resident of Otukpo-Icho, said the Fulani militias operate with military-style precision, using sophisticated rifles and coordinating ambushes like elite security units.
“This is not a random conflict,” a senior Benue elder told TruthNigeria. “It’s a calculated push to take over ancestral lands. The militias behave as if no one — not even the Nigerian government or America — can stop them.”
Killings Intensify After Trump’s Warning
U.S. President Donald Trump recently warned that he would authorize airstrikes to halt what he called “massacres against Christians in Nigeria.”
But instead of stopping the militias, residents say the killings surged in the days after his statement. Across Benue, many now whisper that the Fulani Ethnic Militia feel “untouchable” after years of unpunished violence.
Benue’s Endless Night of Fear
More than two million people remain displaced. In several counties, villagers flee their homes at dusk, hiding in bushes or in neighbouring towns.
“We hear gunfire almost every night,” said Mrs. Veronica Tersoo, a widow from Anwule. “We’ve lost our husbands, our homes, our land. We are dying silently, and no one is coming to help.”
Schools have shut down across vast rural belts. Farmlands lie abandoned. Farmers who dare to return are forced to pay “harvest taxes” to armed groups or risk being killed.
Government Promises, Little Progress
Following the Yelewata massacre earlier this year — where more than 200 were killed — President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ordered a military crackdown on the Fulani Ethnic Militia.
Yet residents say deployments have been slow, poorly coordinated, and largely ineffective.
“Every unpunished massacre is an invitation for the next one,” Adam told TruthNigeria. “How do you secure communities when attackers know nothing will happen to them?”
He noted the weak coordination between the military, police, and local vigilantes as a major factor driving the persistence of the violence.
A Humanitarian Disaster Deepens
The Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) warns that the humanitarian crisis is worsening rapidly.
Shelters are overcrowded. Many survivors now sleep in churches, markets, or open fields. Food shortages are spreading, and child malnutrition is rising sharply.
“If something isn’t done soon, we’ll be dealing not just with killings, but a starvation crisis,” a SEMA official told TruthNigeria.
Aid groups say several counties have become inaccessible due to constant attacks.
A Cry to the World
Despite growing international concern — and Trump’s dramatic warning — the killings continue unabated.
Adam lamented, “The world knows what is happening in Gaza and Ukraine. But here in Benue, we are being wiped out village by village, and nobody is watching.”
As the Fulani Ethnic Militia tighten their grip on rural communities, residents say the question is no longer if another attack will come — but who will still be alive to tell the story.
Mike Odeh James and Olikita Ekani are Conflict Reporters For TruthNigeria.
