The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has condemned the recent massacre of over 200 persons in Yelewata and Daudu communities in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, calling it a national tragedy and demanding immediate, coordinated government action to end the violence.
In a statement issued over the weekend, CAPPA described the attacks as a brutal escalation of the ongoing crisis in the region, accusing both federal and state authorities of cold indifference and chronic failure to protect lives.
The organisation warned that the killings, allegedly carried out by armed herders, reflect a wider collapse of security and government accountability.
Eyewitnesses said the attackers descended on Yelewata in the early hours of Saturday, wielding sophisticated weapons and setting fire to shelters housing Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
In Daudu, at least five security operatives including police officers and soldiers were reportedly killed during a separate assault.
“This atrocity defies comprehension,” CAPPA stated. “What were once disputes over land and water have transformed into an unchecked campaign of terror, waged with impunity and seemingly aimed at the annihilation of entire communities.”
The organisation lamented the response of security agencies, especially the use of tear gas against mourning protesters demanding justice.
According to CAPPA, the act not only aggravated the tragedy but highlighted the increasing inability of law enforcement to distinguish between citizens seeking redress and the actual perpetrators of violence.
CAPPA criticised the Benue State Government under Governor Hyacinth Alia, as well as the federal government, accusing both of offering empty rhetoric rather than concrete measures.
The group said repeated assurances of safety have not translated into effective intervention, allowing the violence to persist unchecked.
The organisation called for a decisive change in strategy, one that goes beyond condemnations and includes the disarmament of militia groups, prosecution of masterminds behind such attacks, and the establishment of credible peacebuilding frameworks within affected communities.
CAPPA stressed that any security response must include civil society oversight to prevent abuses and ensure accountability.
Beyond security, the group advocated for initiatives to address the root causes of the conflict, including the promotion of modern ranching practices and the end of open grazing.
It also urged government authorities to provide compensation, trauma counselling, and resettlement support for affected families in Yelewata and Daudu.
In its final note, CAPPA emphasised that the killings in Benue cannot be normalised. Without urgent, comprehensive intervention, it warned, the state risks descending into an endless cycle of reprisal and despair.
“If all Nigerians are truly equal,” the statement concluded, “then the right to life must not be negotiable. What is happening in Benue is not just a local crisis — it is a national emergency.”
