Over 2,000 Killed In Benue, Plateau Since 2021, Says Nextier

Nigeria’s Middle Belt is facing escalating insecurity, with Benue State and Plateau State emerging as flashpoints of deadly farmer-herder clashes, according to a new report by analysts at Nextier.

The report is authored by Bernard Basason, an Associate Programme Manager at Nextier and consults for several national and international organisations; and Jamilu Musa, a development practitioner and research professional at Nextier.

The report links the violence to a mix of historical land disputes, weak governance, climate pressures, and the growing criminalization of rural conflict.

Once governed by seasonal cooperation between farmers and pastoralists, competition over land and water has intensified amid population growth, erratic rainfall, and the southward movement of herders from drought-affected northern areas.

In Benue, coordinated attacks in June 2025 reportedly killed about 200 people in Guma Local Government Area. Since 2021, at least 930 people have died in farmer-herder violence in the state, while more than half a million residents have been displaced, according to conflict tracking data cited in the report.

Plateau has witnessed similar cycles of reprisal attacks. In April 2025, gunmen killed at least 52 people in communities within the Mwaghavul Chiefdom. More than 1,100 deaths have been recorded in Plateau since 2021, the report said.

Beyond communal tensions, armed groups now finance operations through kidnapping, cattle rustling, and illicit mining, making the conflict increasingly self-sustaining.

The authors urge authorities to move beyond reactive security deployments and instead reform land governance, strengthen rural policing, disrupt illicit funding networks, and establish inclusive peace committees.

Without structural reforms, they warn, the Middle Belt’s violence will continue to threaten livelihoods, food security, and Nigeria’s broader stability.