{"id":167206,"date":"2025-06-17T07:59:02","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T06:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/benue-yelwata-killings-not-farmers-herders-clash"},"modified":"2025-06-17T09:04:37","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T08:04:37","slug":"benue-yelwata-killings-not-farmers-herders-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/economy\/benue-yelwata-killings-not-farmers-herders-clash","title":{"rendered":"Benue Yelwata Killings Not Farmers Herders Clash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Comrade Daniel Onjeh, a former senatorial candidate under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue South, has said the recent massacre in Yelwata, Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, is not a clash between farmers and herders as often reported.<\/p>\n

Instead, he described it as a well-coordinated attack by armed militias that should be treated as a national emergency.<\/p>\n

He disclosed this in a statement on Monday.<\/p>\n

Onjeh said over 200 people were killed in the June 13 night attack, which he believes was carried out by Fulani militias. He warned against the use of outdated narratives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is no longer about farmers and herders. The people killed were mostly students murdered in their rooms, not farmers on the field. And the attackers are not herders, they are militias for hire,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

Onjeh also argued that most genuine herders and farmers have already left Benue due to insecurity and the enforcement of the state\u2019s Anti-Open Grazing Law.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the cows you see in Benue today belong to powerful individuals who violate the law openly,\u201d he claimed.<\/p>\n

He cautioned that referring to these actors as \u201cherdsmen\u201d dignifies their criminality and offers them a form of communal protection.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us make a clear distinction: calling them herdsmen grants them legitimacy and shields them behind a recognised trade. These are not herders; they are militias and available to the highest bidder,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

He urged President Bola Tinubu to view the Benue crisis from a broader angle, saying political sabotage, armed militias, and land grabbing are the real issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr President must act with urgency. These killings are not random, they are political and criminal. If we continue to call these people herdsmen, we are shielding criminals with a legitimate identity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. Comrade Daniel Onjeh, a former senatorial candidate under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue South, has said the recent massacre in Yelwata, Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, is not a clash between farmers and herders as often reported. Instead, he described it as a well-coordinated attack by armed militias […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":167205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,15],"tags":[16904,1774,2645,254,340],"class_list":["post-167206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-benue-killings","tag-farmers","tag-herders","tag-nigeria","tag-students"],"yoast_head":"\nBenue Yelwata Killings Not Farmers Herders Clash - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Comrade Daniel Onjeh, a former senatorial candidate under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue South, has said t ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/economy\/benue-yelwata-killings-not-farmers-herders-clash\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Benue Yelwata Killings Not Farmers Herders Clash\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Comrade Daniel Onjeh, a former senatorial candidate under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue South, has said t ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/economy\/benue-yelwata-killings-not-farmers-herders-clash\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-17T06:59:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-17T08:04:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/sm_1750134947.829429.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/economy\/benue-yelwata-killings-not-farmers-herders-clash#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/economy\/benue-yelwata-killings-not-farmers-herders-clash\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Benue Yelwata Killings Not Farmers Herders Clash\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-17T06:59:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-17T08:04:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/economy\/benue-yelwata-killings-not-farmers-herders-clash\"},\"wordCount\":311,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/economy\/benue-yelwata-killings-not-farmers-herders-clash#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/06\/sm_1750134947.829429.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Benue killings\",\"farmers\",\"Herders\",\"Nigeria\",\"students\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/economy\/benue-yelwata-killings-not-farmers-herders-clash#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/economy\/benue-yelwata-killings-not-farmers-herders-clash\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/economy\/benue-yelwata-killings-not-farmers-herders-clash\",\"name\":\"Benue Yelwata Killings Not Farmers Herders Clash - 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