Key Points
- Armed herdsmen have emptied entire communities in Logo and Kwande LGAs while mining continues uninterrupted in those same areas.
- Foreign miners, including Chinese nationals, operate freely on seized land while local residents are shot on sight.
- Community leaders are calling on the federal government to investigate a suspected link between the attackers and mining interests.
The road from Anyiin to Ayilamo in Logo Local Government Area tells a grim story without a single word. Rows of abandoned compounds line the route, weeds swallowing what were once active homesteads. The communities did not empty from poverty or migration. They emptied from fear.
Over recent months, suspected armed herdsmen have driven residents from several communities along this corridor, leaving settlements deserted. What troubles locals most is what happened next: mining operations moved in.
‘Our people cannot go back’
“If you are going to Ayilamo from Anyiin, it will shock you that the houses from Tsukwa down to Akwana and even the areas shortly before Ayilamo town are completely deserted,” said one resident who spoke on condition of anonymity.
He said farmers who once cultivated yam, cassava and maize across those fields cannot return.
“Our people cannot go back to their ancestral homes to farm because they fear they may be killed,” he said.
Logo LGA alone has 13,633 internally displaced persons, while Kwande LGA has recorded 15,909, according to a January 2025 report by the International Organization for Migration’s Displacement Tracking Matrix.
Miners move in as farmers flee
Media practitioner Joseph Apegh, who hails from Logo LGA, said artisanal mining is actively ongoing in communities such as Mbagber, Tombo and Ayilamo, the same areas where residents have been forced out. Benue State holds deposits of lithium, fluorite, iron, zinc, lead and gold, and the rush for those resources has left communities facing insecurity, deforestation and environmental ruin.
“We are saddened that what should have been God’s gift to the people has become a weapon against them,” Apegh said.
Foreigners working freely, locals shot on sight
The pattern is visible in neighboring Kwande LGA as well. Lawrence Akerigba, a former adviser to the Kwande LGA chairman, said mining sites in Mbakyol, Menakwgh and Inungugh communities are operating while the original residents have fled.
He said foreign nationals, including Chinese operators, are working those sites without interference.
“Once the herders sight any indigene, they shoot him or her,” Akerigba said. “But the Chinese people are there, staying comfortably.”
He stopped short of making a direct accusation but said residents believe there may be coordination between the attackers and those extracting minerals. “If there is no connivance, why are the owners of the land not wanted in their communities while strangers who are not even Nigerians are there unchallenged?” he asked.
A state under siege
Gov. Hyacinth Alia has described the state as being under siege, saying the attacks are “targeted,” “planned” and “religiously executed,” and calling on the federal government to step up support.
Security analysts and community leaders have warned that the sustained displacement of farmers in what is known as Nigeria’s food basket could trigger a severe food crisis if left unaddressed.
Akerigba said his elder brother was among those killed in a recent attack in Mbadura Council Ward after a group of residents quietly returned to their village to retrieve food. Thirteen people were killed that same day in Jato Aka.
Victims are receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Center in Makurdi. Community leaders are urging the federal government to investigate a possible link between the armed assaults and the ongoing mining activity.
