This opinion was inspired by the writings of Catherine Perez- Shakdam published in the Jerlusalem Post and titled :”As Paris burns , the West must stop asking ‘Why?’: and address the Jihad threat”.
Like Paris, like it is in Benue, the words of Catherine still serve the same purpose, hence I borrow profusely from her letters.
The world bleeds from the same threat, and yet the world asks ‘why’ rather than address the threat.
The killings in Benue are not just physical. They are the burning embers of decades of self-delusion and denial. Another night, another tens and hundreds of killings– once the food basket of the nation – found itself engulfed again in the dark flames of violence.
What is going on in Benue is not just the consequences of some tragic provocation or political upheaval, but an ongoing genocide and dislodgement of the natives from their ancestral lands while pretending it is farmers and herders clashing.
The killings in Benue have nothing to do with cows and herders and farmers. The issue of open grazing is a long settled matter cit3r as precedent.
In 1969, Hon. Justice Adewale Thompson delivered a landmark judgment in Suit No. AB/26/66 at the Abeokuta Division of the High Court, effectively banning open grazing in Nigeria. The court’s decision was based on the premise that allowing cattle to wander freely and damage crops without the cattle owners taking responsibility is repugnant to natural justice, equity, and fairness
In the light of the above, the carnage in Benue is a deliberate ethnic cleansing due to elite conspiracy to displace indigenous people from their land and plant some elements to occupy their land.
Some powerful politicians had voiced this plan on national television; how these attackers are a global people who regard every place like home. For instance, they will besiege a place like Bayelsa and make it their home, claiming its resources, changing the culture of the people, and planting their religion. Yet, apart from woes and destruction, there is no evidence that these folks have developed any place to justify that they indeed want to make it a home.
Before the president visited Benue, nearly 218 were killed in Yaletewa, and over 6000 were internally displaced. The natives reported that some of the people who attacked them were shouting Allah Akbar. The DSS reported that they received actionable intelligence on the impending attack, which was passed on to sister security agencies. Amazingly, nothing was done to detect the invaders before they reached their targets, nothing done to deter the invaders or deny them entry. With nothing to defend themselves and the security agencies handcuffed from protecting them, the bloodthirsty villains mowed down the villagers, sparing neither women nor children. They burnt down houses, killed livestock, and destroyed food crops.
It took the visit of the president, before a few arrests were made. 26 people arrested ,the police gleefully announced to an un-amused nation.
Yet, neither the president’s visit nor the relocation of the Army Chief to Benue could stop the killings of another 27 people, and again, hundreds of homes were vandalized or torched. This is what life in Benue now looks like. This is what co-existence has become: a pretext for carnage, a hospitality now transformed into a funeral and mourning for the remnants of order.
We know the pattern by now. The predictable ritual: The media quickly reaches for its euphemisms: “unrest,” and herders clash.”
No identities offered. No ideologies were examined. Just a vague fog of explanation, as though people spontaneously combusted in orgy of violence, and herders provoked by the sheer exuberance of some youths rustling cattle or killing stray cows.
“But beneath the smoke lies a truth we dare not name: This was not an accident of exuberance, nor the mischief of marginalized herders letting off steam. It was the latest outburst in a long war from within, waged not only with bricks and fire but with ideology. An ideology that sanctifies destruction that frames grievance as virtue, and labels any effort to restore order as “oppression.”
“At the heart of this ideology is the unrelenting cult of jihadism – not just in its armed form, but in its cultural and psychological manifestations. The belief that violence is holy when directed at the indigenous people, who are mostly Christians or traditional worshipers. That rage is righteous when wrapped in the banners of identity or injustice. That civilization must apologize before it can defend itself.”
What has been visible in Benue week after week was not merely terrorism. It was a theatre of menace and a message, again and again: we do not love your community, we do not respect your traditions, and we will desecrate your symbols – even your victories – to remind you of your weakness.
The flames and stench of decomposing flesh are not just physical. They are the burning embers of decades of self-delusion. Of leaders who refuse to admit that mass immigration without integration comes at a cost. Of intellectuals who insisted that all cultures are equal, even when some glorify martyrdom over mercy. Of a press that will bend over backwards to avoid saying what every citizen knows in their gut: that a portion of our imported population does not want to coexist but to conquer. And yet, the past administration and current leadership are demanding that the villagers reconcile with their tormentors.
“We are told to believe–to chant like catechisms–that Islam is peace, that jihad means struggle (as if all struggles are noble), and that the only problem lies in our misunderstanding. We are instructed to believe this even when chants of “Allahabad” accompany the destruction of lives, homes, and properties, when churches require police protection every Sunday in communities and cities that once prided themselves on tolerance.”
And so here we are again. An entire state under siege. A morning drowned out by wailings. Hundreds of coffins lined up for burial. The usual rituals and homily were rendered. Benue stakeholders will, no doubt, convene their usual roundtables. The bigwigs will issue the perfunctory condemnations. President Tinubu may offer his condolences with a declaration that the perpetrators will be brought to justice. And within a week, the names of the dead will fade–until the next “spontaneous” killings rear their head.
But a deeper reckoning is needed. It is time to stop pretending that the threat is abstract and that extremism floats in the air like a virus. The ideology behind this violence is coherent, even if it is depraved. It is taught, shared, and incubated in certain places of worship, in certain online forums, and in homes where children are taught to hate the people who hosted and fed them.
It is spread in lyrics, in sermons, and in whispers that Nigeria is weak, that the infidel will fall, and that the future belongs to those willing to burn for it. And it is enabled by our cowardice.
Nigeria is still the giant of Africa, a home to immense strength – but it must choose to use it. It must stop apologising for defending its citizens, cultural diversity, and religious plurality. It must demand loyalty from its citizens and expel those who openly declare allegiance to enemies of the state. It must prioritise national security over ideological purity and begin to recognise that sometimes, peace comes only when evil is made to fear consequences again.
In the end, Benue is a mirror, not just for Nigeria, but for the whole of Africa, that reflects what happens when we swap vigilance for virtue signalling and borders for blind faith. It is the people who once fought wars, resisted tyrants and revolutionaries, who stood tall against repression.
The time for reckoning has come. If we do not confront this culture of destruction now, we will wake up one day to find there is no culture left to defend. It is Benue today, and no point in asking whose turn is next because we are all victims of this culture of destruction
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