Deadly Silence in Ukum: Villagers Allege Security Agencies Ignored Warnings Ahead of Massacre

Deadly Silence in Ukum: Villagers Allege Security Agencies Ignored Warnings Ahead of Massacre

Fresh claims have emerged from Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State following a deadly invasion by suspected armed herders. Local residents say the true death toll is far higher than official accounts suggest, and they are pointing fingers at security operatives who, they allege, ignored clear and timely warnings about an impending attack.

This report, supported by harrowing eyewitness accounts and field investigations, exposes an unsettling pattern of negligence, extortion, and apparent complicity by security personnel stationed in the region. The alleged failure of state forces to act on advance intelligence has raised serious questions about the state’s ability—or willingness—to protect rural communities from violent incursions

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Speaking under a thatch shelter on the outskirts of a ravaged settlement, T. T. Agee, a community leader and survivor, recounted the events that led up to the latest attack with a mix of rage and sorrow.

“We gave the security agencies clear and early information of the impending invasion,” he said. “Two full days before the attackers became visible, we reported everything. We told them the exact route the herders would take. They ignored us.”

According to Agee, villagers alerted soldiers stationed at multiple roadblocks between the highways and their hamlets, warning them of suspicious movements and gatherings in nearby forests. But instead of preparing a coordinated response or increasing surveillance, the security personnel allegedly busied themselves with less noble pursuits.

“They were more interested in extorting motorists, commercial motorcyclists, and even farmers,” Agee said. “Some villagers were beaten for simple errors, others detained. And when they detain you, your family must produce hundreds of thousands of naira before you’re released.”

Security personnel reportedly visited some of the threatened communities just a day before the attack—but villagers say their visit was purely performative.

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“They came in, walked around for some minutes without asking any questions, didn’t assess the situation or call for reinforcement,” said another villager, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals. “Then they left, no warning, no protective measures, nothing.”

Twenty-four hours later, the predicted catastrophe unfolded.

In coordinated fashion, armed attackers stormed several villages within Ukum. Victims were killed in their homes, while others were hunted down as they tried to flee through farmlands and nearby bush paths. According to Agee, “the attackers operated with chilling precision. They knew the terrain better than even we did. It was clear they had studied us for days.”

In the aftermath, security agencies released what locals call “grossly understated” casualty figures. While the authorities confirmed some deaths, residents have been finding more bodies daily—some in advanced states of decomposition, hidden in foliage or dumped in shallow forest graves.

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“We have found more bodies in the bush,” Agee confirmed. “The figures the security agencies released are not just false—they are an insult. We’re the ones combing the bushes. We know what we’ve seen.”

One elder who led a search group said that in a single day, they recovered 11 corpses in one location. “Some had bullet wounds. Others were butchered. Who is counting for us? The government?”

Ukum is no stranger to violence. Located in a volatile region of Benue State, it has suffered multiple waves of attacks, usually from suspected armed herders accused of seeking to annex fertile farming land. But residents say this latest incident reflects a deeper rot—state complicity or, at best, criminal neglect.

“Our youths are restless,” said Agee. “They are angry. Many are asking why they should trust any security agent again. When the people you report to pretend not to hear you, when they leave and you’re killed, it’s betrayal.”

In recent years, repeated calls for proactive deployment of security forces to flashpoints in Benue have gone largely unheeded. The Nigerian military and police often respond only after attacks have taken place, sometimes arriving to secure deserted villages, burnt homes, and grieving survivors.

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One of the more personal accounts shared by Agee involves a tense encounter days before the attack.

“I was on my cassava farm with my elder brother when we saw Fulani herders grazing dangerously close to our land,” he said. “I confronted them politely, warned them to leave. But we were outnumbered, so we maintained decorum.”

Three days later, he said, the same group—or one closely aligned—returned.

“They attacked with military precision,” he said. “They came with weapons and they knew the weak points. This wasn’t random. They had watched us. It was a calculated, deliberate ambush.”

Despite the scale of the tragedy and mounting anger from residents, there has not been a single arrest. Not one suspected attacker has been detained or questioned. Government officials have largely kept quiet, while military spokesmen maintain that they are doing their best under difficult conditions.

But for Agee and the residents of Ukum, “best” is not good enough—not when entire villages are wiped out with advance notice given and no protection offered.

“It’s not just about politics anymore,” he said. “It’s about survival. We have no other place to go. We will not continue to die in silence.”

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Local human rights organizations are now calling for an independent inquiry into the Ukum killings, as well as a forensic audit of the conduct of the security agencies involved.

“We want to know why the soldiers ignored actionable intelligence,” said one activist. “Why were warnings not escalated? Why was there no backup? Where is the accountability?”

The Ukum tragedy is one in a long list of similar attacks across Nigeria’s Middle Belt, where the line between terrorism, banditry, and communal violence continues to blur. For decades, Fulani herdsmen have been accused of targeting farming communities in what many now consider a low-intensity war.

What makes this incident particularly damning is the claim that it could have been prevented.

“These were not faceless attackers who came out of nowhere,” said a former youth leader from Ukum. “They were seen. They were reported. And still, they were allowed to strike.”

The sense of abandonment by the state is palpable.

Even now, weeks after the attack, many affected communities remain without protection. Survivors who fled to IDP camps have refused to return, citing fear of further attacks and total loss of confidence in state protection.

For Agee and many like him, the scars of this tragedy are permanent. They are not merely wounds of the body—but of the heart, the psyche, and the spirit.

“We’ve buried people we loved. We’ve lost homes we built with sweat,” he said. “The only thing we ask is, never again. Let nobody play politics with our lives again.”

Until real justice is pursued, and proactive protection guaranteed, the people of Ukum—and other vulnerable communities in Nigeria’s hinterlands—will continue to live on the edge, caught in a deadly game of survival in a country that has yet to choose between the rule of law and the silence of complicity.

Editor’s Note:
We reached out to the Nigerian Army and Benue State Police Command for official comments regarding these allegations. As of the time of publishing, no formal response has been received.