Benue Killings: President Tinubu Asked to be Audacious in Seeking Solution

Benue Killings: President Tinubu Asked to be Audacious in Seeking Solution

By: Michael Mike

President Bola Tinubu has been asked to be audacious in the battle to end insecurity and incessant attacks and killings in parts of the country.

Reacting to recent Benue killings which left scores dead, an hostile environment journalist and Chairman, Northern Christian Youth Professionals, Isaac Abrak in a letter to President Bola Tinubu, copy of which was made available journalists, said: “But we cannot afford to fold our arms in despair. We must act differently. We must try something new, even if it has never been attempted anywhere in the world. For the sake of our people—our children, our farmers, our security personnel—we must do something bold to stop this carnage.”

Abrak, while stating that “many of those who will oppose this letter are not the ones burying loved ones or watching their communities burn. They analyze from afar, removed from the pain. But real solutions come from those who feel the loss, from the hearts of those closest to the suffering. The Forest Guard must be led not by theories, data sheets, or “Harvard-trained analysts” alone—but by those who bleed when our villages bleed,” said: “I write this letter with a heavy heart. As someone who has spent most of my life reporting from hostile zones across our region, it has become painfully clear that the cycle of killings in our beloved country—particularly in the Middle Belt, as seen again in Benue—is unrelenting.

“Despite the gallant efforts of our military, police, and other security agencies, the attacks persist. Each time our forces strike a blow against the perpetrators, they appear to retreat briefly—only to re-emerge with even greater violence, targeting our most vulnerable: poor, innocent rural dwellers.”

Abrak said: “Mr. President, you understand this urgency. That is why you honored your campaign promise by approving the establishment of the Armed Forest Guard —a groundbreaking initiative that has all the potentials to be the game-changer we desperately need.

“We believe that this Forest Guard has the potential to work—100 percent. Why? Because history in Nigeria has already shown us the way.

“When you introduced LASMA and LAWMA in Lagos, you transformed the so-called “Area Boys”—once a nuisance on our streets—into contributors to order and cleanliness. When CJTF was established in Borno, the same young men once targeted by Boko Haram were mobilized to protect their communities, and they became a vital force in pushing the terrorists back.”

He said: “Mr. President, after 16 years of reporting from conflict zones, I can say with conviction that those responsible for these killings are not strangers—they are often part of the very communities we are trying to protect. Whether they are Fulani, Tiv, or from any other ethnic group, they are either complicit or, at the very least, enabling the violence.

“That is why the Forest Guard must be community-driven. Carefully selected young men and women—hunters, ex-servicemen, with deep roots and love for their communities—should be recruited to defend their forests. If implemented with sincerity, this initiative will succeed just like LASMA, LAWMA, and CJTF did.

“Of course, there will be critics—there always are. Many will see only the challenges and not the possibilities. But you have shown time and again that real leadership is about confronting problems, not running from them. I was in Lagos and witnessed firsthand how you stood firm in the face of criticism to birth innovations that have since transformed lives.”