Benue Women Shut Down Highway in Protest Against Herdsmen Killings and Indiscriminate Arrests

Scores of women in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, blocked a major federal highway on Friday to protest the surge in violence by armed herders and what they described as indiscriminate arrests by security forces targeting innocent civilians.

The demonstration, led by women from the North Bank area, disrupted traffic near the Agan toll gate as the protesters, waving leaves and chanting solidarity songs, decried worsening insecurity and systemic intimidation of residents by law enforcement agents.

Speaking to journalists, several women alleged that dozens of innocent men in their community had recently been picked up by security operatives without explanation or due process.

Protesters accused security agencies of targeting able-bodied men instead of focusing on armed herders responsible for deadly attacks across Benue State.

“In just one day, over 50 people were arrested in North Bank. We now live in fear of both the herdsmen and the security agencies,” a woman said during the protest.

Another protester added: “Instead of going after the killers attacking our farms and villages, they come to our homes and arrest our sons and husbands. We are tired. Enough is enough.”

Benue State has been grappling with persistent violence, especially in farming communities, attributed to suspected Fulani herdsmen. On June 13, 2025, an attack on Yelewata community in Guma LGA left over 100 people dead, with unconfirmed reports placing the death toll closer to 200.

The assailants reportedly targeted a mission site housing over 400 internally displaced persons (IDPs) before moving on to burn homes and massacre residents in the main market area. Eyewitnesses said the attackers chanted “Allahu Akbar” and described the massacre as a form of ethnic cleansing.

Similar attacks in early June claimed multiple lives across Guma and Makurdi LGAs. On June 8, two farmers were gunned down in Udei. Machete-wielding assailants killed more people in Tse Ivokor on June 11, and search parties trying to retrieve bodies from earlier attacks were also ambushed and killed in Daudu and Akondutough communities.

According to the Benue NGOs Network, over 5,700 lives have been lost to herdsmen violence in the state since 2011, and more than 150,000 people have been displaced. In June 2025 alone, over 6,500 residents were forced to flee, with 2,843 IDPs registered in just one week in February.

“Our people are tired of these unnecessary arrests. The government should send the police to chase down killers, not chase innocent villagers,” one protester demanded.

“We’ve buried too many people. We can’t continue like this,” said another woman. “If the government won’t act, we will keep raising our voices.”