Banditry In Benue Could Lead To Hunger, Says Ex-AGF Aondoakaa

Former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, has warned that persistent bandit attacks in Benue State could trigger a serious hunger crisis, as farmers were being displaced and farmlands destroyed across the state.

LEADERSHIP reports that Benue State is officially referred to as ‘Food Basket of the Nation’ because of vast agricultural potential.

Speaking during an interview on Arise News Channel on Thursday, Aondoakaa stressed that the situation demanded urgent action, insisting that politics must be completely set aside in addressing the growing insecurity in Benue State.

“This is a situation that politics should be completely set aside because you are talking of a situation where 80 per cent in Benue State are farmers and the farmers have been displaced. There’s a potential danger of hunger that’s more serious than the mayhem being caused by the bandits,” he said.

Aondoakaa warned that bandits were increasingly relocating into the Benue Valley, particularly around Benue State, where they were causing widespread destruction.

He cited Ukum local government area of the State as a troubling example, noting that 10 out of its 13 wards are currently under bandit occupation.

According to him, insurgents have settled less than three kilometres from the main market in Ukum, a major yam-producing hub for the country, describing the development as alarming.

Expressing concern over the growing presence of bandits, Aondoakaa said, “As the bandits are moving away from Sokoto, concentrating within the Benue Valley, particularly around Benue State and their environs, causing mayhem. My understanding is that the ground forces will move on them within the Benue axis. But it looks like, from what you said, they have come in numbers. They are overturning villages. I will give you a particular local government, which is the Ukum local government. Out of 13 wards, there’s an occupation of 10 wards. You can, at the main market in Ukum, which is the exact main market that produces yams for the country, they have settled less than three kilometers away from the main market. And that is alarming.”

Recalling strategies adopted during the administration of former President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, Aondoakaa said the government at the time implemented a zero-tolerance approach against banditry.

“When this crisis started, during the President Yar’adua’s time, because I always refer to where I was an active participant, what the government adopted was no mercy. There was zero tolerance of mercy on the bandits. Anywhere we heard there was concentration, our military used to go there to flush them out,” he said.

Reiterating his warning, Aondoakaa added, “This is a situation that politics should be completely set aside because you are talking of a situation where 80% in Benue State are farmers and the farmers have been displaced. There’s a potential danger of hunger that’s moving more serious than the mayhem being caused by the bandits.”

He called for stronger collaboration between Nigeria and international partners, particularly the United States, to tackle the crisis, stressing that such cooperation do not undermine Nigeria’s sovereignty.

“I still think that collaborating with U.S. or any other country to flush out the bandits does not in any way undermine the integrity of this country. I have faith, great hope, in the security architecture of President Bola Tinubu now. But it goes beyond having faith in government. It goes to practical action. And this action entails that government of Nigeria must collaborate with sister countries, neighbouring countries, and collaborate with U.S. to put a stop to this mayhem because there’s no purpose for this mandate,” he said.

Aondoakaa said his call for foreign collaboration was made in good faith, citing a recent joint operation between Nigerian and U.S. forces in Sokoto State as an example of effective cooperation.

“My call was in good faith. It did not in any way undermine the sovereignty of this country. If you get from what transpired, the Nigerian government said they acted, they gave the intelligence to the Americans. The Americans did not just come here. The Minister of Foreign Affairs was emphatic that the strike in Sokoto was a collaboration between the Americans and the Nigerian government. Nigeria gave them the intelligence,” he said.

He urged the Federal Government to replicate the Sokoto model in Benue State, either through the Nigerian Air Force or in collaboration with international partners, to prevent further destruction.

“Now, what I said is that there should be the same collaboration between the Nigerian government and U.S. government to flush them out anywhere they are trying to concentrate in a group,” he said.

He added, “Anywhere there is collaboration, there’s concentration. The bandits are concentrating. There’s need for either the Nigerian Air Force to move in, or if they do not have the capacity, then the same collaboration that happened with the U.S. government to flush them out.”

Aondoakaa concluded by stressing that political considerations must give way to urgent security action, given the scale of displacement and the looming threat to food security in Benue State, where about 80 per cent of the population depend on farming for survival.