When the gunshots first rang out, 12-year-old Terkimbi was asleep beside his grandmother on a raffia mat. By morning, his village had become a graveyard. “It was like thunder,” he whispered, eyes wide with a fear far older than his years. “We ran into the bush, but they were everywhere.”
On Thursday night, armed herdsmen descended on Benue State’s Sankera axis in what police described as a coordinated, “hellish” attack. By the time the sun rose, 17 people lay dead, 12 in Logo Local Government Council and five in the farming community of Gbagir, in Ukum Local Government Area.
For the people of Sankera, however, this wasn’t just another tragedy. It was a brutal reminder that even sleep is dangerous in Benue’s unending war. At about 9 pm, villagers say they heard distant shouting, followed by gunfire. Then came the screams. In Logo, the attackers moved swiftly, torching huts and firing indiscriminately.
“They shot everyone running, old people, children, even those who begged,” said 38-year-old Aondofa, a farmer who escaped through a cassava field. His cousin, Taver, wasn’t so lucky. “He was hit in the chest. I couldn’t carry him,” Aondofa choked. “I had to leave him there.”
Police confirmed that by the time reinforcements reached the area, the assailants had already retreated into the forests. Tactical teams are now combing the region, but for many here, it’s too little, too late.
At a crowded makeshift IDP camp outside Zaki-Biam, women huddle over cooking pots while children play with scraps. The smell of smoke and fear still hangs in the air. “We are not safe,” said Mngohol, a mother of four who fled Gbagir with only the clothes on her back. “The government says things will get better, but we are dying every day.”
According to SBM Intelligence, over 300,00 people have been displaced in Benue since 2023 due to the farmer-herder crisis. Entire villages have been emptied, farmlands abandoned, and schools shuttered.
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Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia, Benue’s governor, has made repeated pleas for military intervention, warning that communities face “total annihilation.” But critics argue that state security forces remain outgunned and under-resourced.
In March, a similar attack in Agatu Local Government Area left 50 dead. Locals described it as a massacre, with homes burned and corpses mutilated. Now, the same horror has returned to Sankera. “This is not random violence,” said a local rights activist, who requested anonymity. “It’s a slow erasure of people, culture, and land.”
President Bola Tinubu has vowed to end insecurity “decisively.” But in Benue, that promise feels distant like the sound of helicopters that never come, or the sight of uniforms that always arrive after the smoke has cleared.
As night falls again on Gbagir, the people don’t light fires. They sleep with one ear open, knowing the next attack may come before dawn. “There is no peace here,” said Terkimbi, clutching his grandmother’s hand. “Only fear.” In Benue, fear is now part of the soil.
