The festering security crisis in Benue State, the food basket of the nation, is a cause for serious concern.

In the past few weeks, reports of killings by bandits, terrorists or armed herdsmen have been gory. Scores of defenseless citizens have been massacred.

At least one million citizens of Benue State have been displaced by the invaders. In most cases, villages were invaded at night when people were deep asleep, often woken up by staccato of gun shots.

It is an understatement to say that Benue State is under siege. The attackers have killed at least 500 people in the last few months in a state that is very strategic for Nigeria’s food security.

And all these happening while all the security agencies have been mobilised to the state? Two weeks ago, the Chief of Army Staff had to relocate from Abuja to the embattled state.

Yet, the killings have continued even as Governor Hyacinth Alia tries spiritedly to ensure he performs his   first duty of any government which is to ensure security of lives and property of its citizens.

We believe tackling this major national crisis should not become problematic for the current government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It should not be seen as the duty of Governor Alia alone.

Two years after he took over, no part of the country is safe anymore. Even the nation’s capital has recorded and continues to record terrible security challenges. Last month, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, had closed its national secretariat in Abuja as a mark of respect and mourning for its Director of Administration, AbdulRauf Adeniji, who was tragically murdered two months after he was kidnapped in Abuja. A ransom of N50 million was paid, yet the terrorists snuffed life out of the Osun State-born man.

While the party’s secretariat was shut from April 10, 2025, to April 14, 2025, it urged staff to use the period to engage in sober reflection and offer prayers for the family and loved ones of the deceased.

In Plateau State, the Mwaghavul ethnic nationality in Mangu Local Government Area has lost over 600 lives to herdsmen attacks on their communities over the past two years. About 65,000 villagers have also been displaced and 6,111 houses destroyed as a result of terrorists’ attacks.

In the North West of Nigeria, Katsina and Zamfara are the worst hit. Recently, bandits or terrorists brutally murdered the Chief Imam of Maru town in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State, Alkali Salisu Suleiman, his two sons, and a two-year-old grandson while in captivity despite a payment of N11 million ransom. The cleric was reportedly killed on the first day of Ramadan.

In Katsina, a former Director General of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Brig. Gen. Maharazu Tsiga (retd.), spent 56 harrowing days in his abductors’ den. His friends had to raise funds to pay a huge ransom the kidnappers demanded.

In the southern part of the country, the citizens are perpetually living in fear of attacks from herdsmen armed with sophisticated military weapons. Citizens in Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Ogun, Oyo, Edo, Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Ebonyi and Abia are on tenterhooks.

Worried by the general insecurity in the land, a former Chief of Army Staff and Defence Minister, Lt. Gen. TY Danjuma, recently called on citizens to defend themselves. It was a stark reality of the helplessness the people are subjected to under the current government.

But there seems to be a ray of hope. Last week, President Tinubu during a visit to Katsina State said his government won’t surrender to fear, terror or treachery and charged the military to end banditry and terrorism.

President Tinubu who promised to prioritise the military’s welfare as he addressed troops of the 17 Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Katsina, described the current security challenges as a defining moment in the nation’s history.

He said: “This is a defining moment in our history. The threats of terrorism, banditry, and insurgency have persisted for too long. Nigerians are counting on us and you to end this menace and reclaim every inch of our territory.

“Let your resolve echo through every valley and forest. Let the enemies of Nigeria know their time is up.

“The fight you are waging here in Katsina and across the country is not just a battle for territory; it is a battle for the soul of Nigeria.”

Against this background, we urge the Federal Government to engage more seriously with the various State Governments in the war against the terrorists.

We believe that security of the citizens must be taken more seriously by the governments at all levels before things degenerate to lawlessness like in the Hobbesian state of nature where life is short, brutish and nasty.

“It is an understatement to say that Benue State is under siege. The attackers have killed at least 500 people in the last few months in a state that is very strategic for Nigeria’s food security.”