David Smith MP – Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion Or belief.
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Humanitarian situation in Benue State (Fr Remi).pptx
The Most Rev. Wilfred C. Anagbe
Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi, Benue, Nigeria – speaking at a meeting in the UK Parliament – 25th March 2025
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me begin by expressing my gratitude to Lord David Alton, for his willingness to listen to our story and for facilitating the participation of the many who have come here for this purpose. I am especially grateful to Caroline Hull and the entire body of the Aid to the Church in Need both in the United Kingdom and abroad, and the organisers of this event for giving me the unique opportunity to address you and all friends of Nigeria on the worsening state of killings and displacement in Nigeria. It is an opportunity I deeply appreciate.
I am Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe, and appear here as the Catholic Bishop of the diocese of Makurdi, the capital of Benue state, in Nigeria. I am the shepherd of one of four dioceses in Benue, which has a population of 6 million people ; over 2 millions of whom are souls under my care. Benue state is 98% Christian, with very few Muslims who are mainly settlers from northern parts of the country.
Benue State is known by appellation ‘The Food Basket of the Nation’ because of the State’s ability to produce over 60% of Nigeria’s food crops
Nigeria, and especially my diocese and the state of Benue, have become, in recent years, one of the most dangerous and insecure places for Christians.
Christians and Muslims are nearly evenly divided among Nigeria’s large population of 238 million people. Islamist extremists are fiercely contesting the possession, control and governing law of the land, especially in the country’s northern and central regions, the latter of which is where Benue is located.
There are constant ethnic, political, and religious conflicts over land and allegiance. Constitutionally, we are a secular country, but our unity has been fragile. Political and religious actions and even public speech have been carefully managed to avoid accusations of religious bias and political tensions. Today, the clear influence of Islamist extremists has changed the traditional social dynamics of tribe, ethnicity, religion and social status in Nigeria, as elsewhere in Africa. [Identification as a Muslim and a Fulani ethnic have been what exactly” are the determinant factors for recognition or identity as witnessed in the last two to three decades across sub-Saharan West Africa. ]
A long-term, Islamic agenda to homogenize the population has been implemented, over several presidencies, through a strategy to reduce and eventually eliminate the Christian identity of half of the population. This strategy includes both violent and non-violent actions, such as the exclusion of Christians from positions of power, the abduction of Church members, the raping of women, the killing and expulsion of Christians, the destruction of churches and farmlands of Christian farmers, followed by the occupation of such lands by Fulani herders. All of this takes place without government interference or reprisals.
The quest to Islamize the land appears high on the agenda of some of the powerful and influential Muslims in Nigeria. There is a campaign to take land to spread Islam, And there is the haemorrhaging of Christian farmers from the central region of Nigeria, and Makurdi Diocese in particular, as they are forced to abandon fertile land that used to feed the nation. When efforts at peace and dialogue failed to stem the killings and displacement in the State, the government of the day along with other prominent stakeholders in Benue State decided on the promulgation of the ‘Anti-Opening Grazing and Ranches Establishment Law in 2017’ as a measure intended to halt the killings. The summary of the Law in question was that, with its promulgation, no one would be allowed to rear livestock in the state except through the establishment of ranches as was the practice in all developed or in some instances, developing countries of the world. But even before the law would come into effect, it was denounced by all Fulani groups in the country. Of course with President Buhari (himself a Fulani man and the patron of Miyetti Allah), these Fulani groups went full throttle against this law and from this time began to unload on the poor defenceless populations in almost all the local government areas of Benue State.
Militant Fulani herdsmen are terrorists destroying society. They steal and vandalize, they kill and boast about it, they kidnap and rape, and they enjoy total impunity from the elected authorities. None of them have been arrested and brought to justice. This is supported by the corrupt system in which we operate, and the abject poverty among us, which allow the criminals to easily attract more recruits and prey on more victims.
Why is this happening? Is it really a “religious war”? Like in the past, many jihadists are motivated less by religion than by the spoils of war, and use their religion to impose themselves. In my diocese, the spoils consist mainly of fertile, well-tended land organized around a parish. The jihadists come and abduct and kill the priests, leaving thousands without support and basic human services. When the pastor is gone, the flock scatters.
The Makurdi Diocese in Benue State has been the epicentre of the invasion by these herders, who are more like “hired guns” of cattle oligarchs, who manipulate religion to rally the herders to eliminate the Christian population, and cleanse the land in the name of Islam.
This objective is behind the relentless attacks against Benue’s villagers. When we call for help to the police and the army, they do not come. At the end of 2024, several villages were warned by the attackers of the upcoming violence and the leaders called the police for defence, ahead of time. But they did not come, and the Christmas massacres, almost customary, took place killing hundreds in Plateau and Benue, with the worst massacre claiming 47. The militants also burnt down the eight Catholic churches of St. Mary’s Parish in the diocese of Gboko, as well as the parish house, clinics, schools and other houses.
As you listen to me large swathes of the Guma LGA, Gwer West LGA, Logo LGA, and Kwande LGA, have been completely taken over by Fulani groups with the local indigenous populations forced into IDP camps across the state. The Justice, Development and Peace Commission of my diocese (www.fjdp.org ) has tried to document the killings and displacement of people over the years, with detailed accounts as from 2014. I will share with you the documentation we have done capturing the year 2024 to date.
The Islamists kidnapped and murdered priests, pastors, and bishops from many Christians denomination, over 17,000 churches have been burned in conflict. The foundation Aid to the Church in Need International’s 2024 reports about killings of Christians should further alarm all who listen to me today. No single case has been prosecuted by government officials.
The militant Fulani herdsmen bear on defenceless villagers without consequence. They follow orders to conquer, kill, and occupy. They attack even those who have managed to escape into our IDPs’ camps.
What I have recounted above is happening not only in Benue State. I believe our experience in Benue is symptomatic of what is happening elsewhere in large parts of Nigeria. The experience of the Nigerian Christians today can be summed up as that of a Church under Islamist extermination. It is frightening to live there! Apart from the violent campaigns and attacks against Christian villages, there are now attempts by the Islamic Council of Nigeria and various Islamic groups to impose ‘sharia law’ on the Christian populations. Already, twelve states in the North of Nigeria are under this sectarian religious law and attempts to extend the same to the South of Nigeria have already begun. This month, governors in the North decided abruptly to close all schools and education institutions during the months of Ramadan, leaving millions of students without learning opportunity for 5 weeks.
We live in fear because at any point, it can be our turn to be killed. But to remain silent is to die twice, so I have chosen to speak. I speak on behalf of the millions who are in the camps. I speak on behalf of the millions of women and children who have no husband or father, and even their own voice is taken away by the politicians who promised to help them but have become the willing tools of the jihadists. I speak on behalf of those whose loved ones have been killed but no one has even offered a word of consolation to them. I speak on behalf of the thousands of young girls who have been abducted and raped because no one, not even the media, mentions them to any more.
Foremost, I speak on behalf of my flock, who are unable to worship freely and unable to return to their ancestral farms and homes because that land has been ruthlessly taken from them by the armed herdsmen. They have lost their past, and their future.
A prosperous Nigeria is a prosperous African continent and a safer world for all peoples.
Today, I urge you all to use every means within your mandate to start developing a strong and good relationship with Nigeria, where you know that when you speak of human dignity, we are also speaking of the same God-given right you believe is “unalienable”. Consider that Nigeria can be your ally, but it cannot be one where half the population is in the process of being murderously eliminated. Work with us, the churches, and other Nigerians of good will.
We are working for a peaceful and prosperous society. And our desperate plight has been set aside in U.K. foreign policy for too long, to the cost of thousands of lives.
Concretely, I ask you to condition the diplomatic and economic relations of the UK with Nigeria on the return of the IDPs to their ancestral homes and help for them to rebuild their lives. I implore this august body to insist on the return and rehabilitation of all IDPs to their ancestral lands, and NOT to relocate them to other constructed camps elsewhere, which is an invented solution now being pushed the Benue state governor.
My second request regarding your mandate is to help us fight the growing impunity. Justice for the IDPs should also include seeking punishment for the perpetrators, a restitution of the dignity of the victims. Payment of full compensation to all victims of religious persecution and insecurity. Ensuring that victims of religious persecution get justice.
Dear friends, Albert Einstein once said “the world will not be destroyed by those who do evil but by those who watch them without doing anything.” It is my hope that our efforts here today will be able to yield the desired results as we continue to work towards healing the wounds of our people and giving them hope. The West’s fleeting attention goes from war to war, but not ours, which is in fact a slow motion genocide.
Our own government’s lack of action over the years has only added to the conviction of many that the grand plan to Islamise Nigeria has finally arrived, and we are unable to stop it because we are blinded by political correctness and the fear of being branded “Islamophobes”.
Looking at the demographic profile of the country and the increasing profile of political Islam in the country, Nigeria may be approaching the ‘Lebanon trap’ where a religious civil war is imminent and fighting over religion is NOT a choice BUT a matter of survival.
Once again, I thank Lord Alton and all who have made it possible for me to share our experiences with you today of particular mention, Caroline Hull, and all staff of the Aid to the Church in Need UK. I pray for all benefactors of the ACN with your support, the ACN continues to support Christians in my country and in other places.
May God reward always the work of this organization.
Thank you for listening
THE REAL REASONS BEHIND THE KILLINGS
As I mentioned above, killings and displacement of populations in Benue State have been recorded since 2001 when the first IDP camps were established in Uikpiam and Chito ran by the Catholic diocese of Makurdi. From this time to the present day “The pastoralists” orchestrate wholescale displacement of villages, pillaging, butchering people in their numbers, destroying crops and occupying the villages of their victims. The real reasons behind the killings can be listed as follows:
A) A deliberate land grab for all Fulani peoples of the world to come and settle in Nigeria and create a home. In order for this to succeed, many indigenous groups and tribes must to be wiped out and driven from their ancestral lands. Look at various government initiatives especially under President Buhari (a Fulani) which suggest this desperation: RUGA, Pulaku, NLTP, Cattle colonies, Water Bill etc.
B) Grazing routes for Fulani pastoralists- The Dan Fodio Jihad of 1804 succeeded in some parts of Nigeria and created routes across parts of Nigeria, routes which later became grazing paths for pastoralists who used such routes for decades. Even though Nigeria has grown in population beyond those pre-colonial grazing routes, the Fulani groups still hold onto them and insist on a reopening of the routes. Any attempts to the contrary invites anarchy and bloodshed from the Fulani. When President Buhari headed PTF, he attempted for the first time in decades to reopen the grazing routes. When he became president, this was his signature desire.
C) Continuation of the Jihad of 1804- There has also been the clamour for the establishment of Sharia law in all of Nigeria. The Nation’s constitution which should be secular is replete with ‘Sharia’ references. Nigeria is also a member of the Islamic Organization Countries. How and why is this permitted? One only has to look at the pattern of destruction and killings and displacement to know the clear intention. To add further credence to this belief, there has never been any efforts (especially under president Buhari) to systematically address the killings and displacement of people in Nigeria. There is a strong tendency by fundamentalist Muslims in Nigeria to turn the whole or part of Nigeria to an Islamic State. This is supported by global Jihadi groups and the Federal Government seems incapable of standing up to protect the right of ALL citizens to worship the God of their choice.
D) ISWAP and Boko Haram. The government of Nigeria itself at one point alluded to the fact that what was happening was the work of Islamic fundamentalists. But the question to be asked is whether these groups have the backing of some in government who align with such beliefs and push forth such agenda. The case of El-Rufai of Kaduna buttresses this point. Someone with weapons and money is arming the terrorists (please, do not call them “insurgents”, they are mere mercenaries).
E) The issues of climate change or the competition over scarce resources could be a valid point but not to the extent espoused by the West. The desert areas of the Sahel region have existed for years and in the past pastoralists travelled all the way down South of Nigeria in search of foliage for cattle without killing and occupying territory. Since the “Abuja declaration” this has changed. Secondly, climate change and the challenges associated with it are a global phenomenon requiring systematic attention by governments everywhere. Why are people not killed and displaced in the West because of climate change? It is our strong belief that the “Climate Change” thing is a narrative created by the West to cover the shame of the inability to call out Islamic jihadism that has been sweeping across the world for some time. The West generally has a phobia for confronting Islamic terrorism for what it is, it prefers to dabble in non-relevant innuendos in the name of political correctness.
