Twelve days preceding the tragic end of his life, Muhammad Usman was tending cattle in Maraban Dare, situated within Plateau State’s Bassa Local Government Area. On that Sunday morning in early November, clad in a yellow T-shirt beneath a navy-blue jacket, the young herder exhibited a deep sense of grief and trepidation.
Born in 2008, Usman's childhood was marred by recurrent and deadly assaults in the north-central Nigeria state. His ordeal intensified following the brutal murder of his father in an ambush.
“He was the family’s provider,” Usman reminisced, adding, “He lost his life in 2017 while riding a motorcycle, and his body was never found. My mother would reassure my siblings and me, as young children, that we would see him again tomorrow whenever we inquired about him.”
As the eldest, Usman endeavored to hold the family together as best as he could. He took to herding in order to aid his impoverished mother and siblings. Just as they were beginning to heal from their loss, gunmen attacked a grazing area one afternoon and slaughtered all 30 cattle in his herd.
He eventually dropped out of school to work for other pastoralists for meager wages. “I wished to continue my education, but I had to leave school after primary due to inadequate support. We used to sell cattle to procure food and finance school fees. My mother, siblings, and I are really in a tough spot without any source of assistance,” he lamented.
“My desire is to have funds to enroll my siblings in school,” he continued, unknowingly anticipating a dire fate ahead.
Shortly after this interview, twelve days later, Usman was grazing cattle when he became a casualty of gunfire from soldiers purported to be pursuing criminals who set ablaze harvested crops in the Gero community of Jos South.
This tragic incident abruptly concluded Usman’s 17-year existence. The peace he longed for remained elusive until his last breath, carrying with him dreams and aspirations that never came to fruition.
Countless others, like Usman, have tragically borne the brunt of the persistent clashes ravaging the state and its neighbor, Benue, for over two decades. For the fortunate ones who have survived the bloodshed, current traumatic experiences, poverty, constant threats, and attacks entrap their futures in uncertainty.
Continuous Traumatic Violence
Plateau State experienced a severe ethno-religious crisis that erupted on September 7, 2001, seven years before Usman’s birth, in Jos North. This outbreak of violence claimed numerous lives and extended to various local government areas by 2002, triggering decades of conflict that have cost thousands of lives and destroyed properties, including homes, farms, and livestock.
The escalation of violence into rural areas and villages has exacerbated tensions between largely Christian farmers and predominantly Muslim herders, framing the crisis in an ethno-religious context. Historically, both groups coexisted peacefully, particularly in the six local government areas of Bassa, Jos South, Riyom, Barkin Ladi, Bokkos, and Mangu.
Research conducted by a fact-finding committee commissioned by the government indicates that at least 11,749 lives have been recorded as lost between 2001 and 2025. The committee also revealed that approximately 420 communities faced attacks during this timeline.
Parallel to Plateau, violence over land, water, and grazing rights has plagued Benue State as well, resulting in substantial loss of life. A notorious example is the Agatu massacre that commenced in 2012, particularly impacting Okokolo and nearby riverine villages such as Odejo, Odugbeho, Egba, and Aila, where over 80 mourners were slaughtered in one day in Egba. Additional assaults followed in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2021, with armed assailants killing more than 40 individuals in Odugbeho in 2021.
In Kwande, upwards of 6,000 people have reportedly died since the onset of the violence in 2011, and Ado has seen a similar number of fatalities in the years of turmoil. During the first half of the previous year alone, approximately 900 individuals were reportedly murdered state-wide, including 200 locals killed in Yelwata in June.
“Alone, our village has lost at least 400 people to these attacks,” stated Emmanuel Jacob, a community elder from Okokolo village in Agatu. “In the 2013 invasion of Agatu, we were raided thrice. This pattern has been relentless.”
The Benue NGOs Network (BENGONET) cited territorial disputes coupled with the open grazing crisis as primary factors fueling the conflict, particularly between the Turan in Benue and the Jukun in Taraba.
Lazarus Mom, the BENGONET Coordinator, expressed that during a recent field visit to Kwande, it was revealed that over 5,700 lives had been lost since 2011, with more than 150,000 people displaced. Presently, up to 36,844 children are housed in camps established for communities affected by the crisis, as indicated by the state’s Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Aondowase Kunde.
Kunde asserted, through the Programme Manager for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Zege Gaius, that these figures were documented by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in collaboration with SEMA.
The Pain of Childhood Disruption
Usman’s story mirrors that of thousands of youths contending with fractured childhoods ravaged by endless violence. At just 13 years old, Sekegh Ahen has never truly experienced peace. He was only one year old when armed intruders first invaded Tse Uno in the Katsina Ala Local Government Area of Benue.
In March 2022, one Sunday afternoon, Sekegh’s father, Mr. Ahen, had just returned from a church gathering. While still donned in his church attire, he entered a local provision shop to make a purchase. In that moment, gunshots erupted in the village as armed men surged into the area, firing indiscriminately. His father was perilously fleeing when a bullet struck him from behind.
The murder shattered Sekegh’s family. His mother was left to fend for their children alone through many hardships. Eventually, she was forced to make a heart-wrenching decision: she entrusted young Sekegh to a reliable member of the community, Orsaa Ortserga, and left with his siblings to Taraba State to cultivate crops for their sustenance.
Sekegh, then 11, moved in with the Orsaa family, profoundly impacted by the violence that defined his upbringing. Mercy Orsaa, who now cares for Sekegh, recollects those early weeks vividly. “It was challenging to manage him,” she recalled. “At times, he would refuse to eat, weep, or remain mute.”
The Orsaa family recognized that Sekegh was overwhelmed by torment beyond his comprehension, having lost his father, been uprooted from his home, and deprived of his mother’s presence.
Living along the Zaki Biam Tor Donga road in a camp filled with internally displaced persons, Sekegh’s circumstances reflected the hardship faced by those similarly affected.
On October 24, 2025, the sun blazed as Sekegh wandered through the compound consisting of four small, round mud huts roofed with thatch, now discolored from years of rain and cooking smoke. The area showcased signs of lingering hardship, yet this represented all that the Orsas could manage.
Sekegh appeared from an adjacent path clad in a faded yellow school uniform with loose-fitting sky-blue shorts. His dark complexion and frail stature made evident the impacts of prolonged malnutrition. Standing silently for a moment, he expressed a deep yearning, “I miss my home. I once played without fear everywhere. Now, I am unable to.”
Tears welled in his eyes, “I miss my father, and I wish to see him in heaven,” he added as Mercy offered comfort, and other children gazed on quietly while he sobbed.
Sekegh represents more than just a grieving child. He embodies the emotional toll inflicted by years of violent conflict, one that continues to unsettle the lives of countless youth across Benue State. “I often dream of my siblings being slain. At times, I dread what lies ahead.”
Education Disrupted
Across Benue and Plateau, numerous war-affected children, some now adults, have shared how relentless violence has obstructed their access to education and confined their aspirations to mere shadows. Continuous attacks in severely impacted communities have driven many children from school. Others expressed that the crisis hinders them from finding work to support their studies. Without education or skill acquisition opportunities, these children find themselves on a path toward an uncertain future.
Born at the onset of the Plateau crisis in 2001, Joshua Yakubu from the Rim community aspired to join the military. However, his ambition has stalled midway through secondary school due to continuous assaults. He intended to return to school, funding his education through farming, but gunmen attacked again in early 2025, inflicting grave injuries upon him and claiming the lives of five of his friends.
“I was shot in the stomach, but fortunately, the wound has since healed after treatment,” the 24-year-old Mr. Yakubu stated, gesturing to the scar. “I am no longer fit enough to continue farming, which was my primary means of financing my education and pursuing my dreams.”
“I’ve grown accustomed to this crisis. I was born amidst it. There was a period when we faced assaults on a weekly basis. True peace has evaded me. I only feel sorrow that this violence has extinguished my aspirations,” he added.
Similarly, 23-year-old Yahaya Muhammad, a resident of Maraban Dare, mourned the loss of his ambition to become a banker after a bullet wound acquired during herding in 2020 halted his studies.
“I used to be a student, but after that event, I ceased attending classes due to financial limitations. I discontinued school after my second year in secondary education. I can no longer provide for my family, let alone continue my studies. Had it not been for the loss of my cattle to the attack, I would have nearly completed my degree program,” he lamented, expressing a desire to return to school and realize his dream of studying accounting.
The out-of-school children crisis reflects not only the staggering numbers of school-aged children affected or the schools shuttered or ruined during the persistent assaults but outlines how extensive violence has obliterated dreams.
Sekegh is enrolled at King David Academy in Zaki Biam, currently in Junior Secondary School 1, harboring aspirations of becoming a medical doctor, yet academic hurdles loom before him.
While Mercy’s husband, Orsaa Ortserga, teaches to support the family, she engages in small-scale trading. Their earnings are modest, yet they strive to cover the needs of their four biological children and Sekegh, along with two others who lost one or both parents.
During our reporters’ visit to the family, they had yet to pay the children’s school fees over a month after the academic year commenced. The children attended classes in a state of uncertainty, awaiting the day when they might be sent home.
“We cannot even begin to enumerate the relatives lost in this conflict; the numbers are countless. We grapple with feeding the family and addressing the children’s educational fees,” she stated, her voice filled with sorrow.
Thirteen-year-old Gloria Jacob’s story parallels Sekegh’s. She was just a toddler when violence first disrupted her village in Agatu. Since that moment, school, home, and a normal childhood have seemed distant. Now, Gloria resides with her family in an IDP camp in Wadata, Makurdi.
“There was a time we were forced to sleep in the bushes. My siblings and I quit attending school. My father opted to relocate us away from the village to here (Wadata),” she recounted.
Although Gloria has returned to school, her ability to attend is contingent on her capacity to raise enough money from hawking to cover her fees.
“Sometimes, we do not attend school. They send us away due to unpaid fees. Other times, we forgo school to assist our mother with hawking, often going the entire day without eating until evening,” she shared.
Marriage Supplanting Education
For many children, marriage has supplanted education. Dina Fater, a middle- aged woman from Azege in Tombo Council Ward, Logo LGA of Benue State, has been a resident of the Anyiin camp since 2018. She recalls the initial attack starting in 2014 and how life deteriorated steadily to the point where they could no longer sustain themselves.
“The invaders would approach with cattle and weapons. Initially, they fired shots into the air only,” Mrs. Fater recounted while sitting under a sheet of corrugated metal shielding her from the sun. “However, by 2018, they commenced killing individuals.”
She fled with seven children, five of whom were married while still living in the camp. Mrs. Fater described those unions not as joyous occasions but as decisions driven by starvation, fear, and despair.
“All were married while in the camp because I could not financially sustain them or pay for their schooling,” she explained. “I always aspired to send them to school and train them; however, when I was uprooted, I left everything behind. They found themselves helpless and chose to marry.”
The family faced constant displacement, moving between communities, attempting to return when they believed it was safe. Each time they thought danger had dissipated, attacks resurfaced. Children commenced schooling in new locations only to have terms abruptly halted by yet another assault. “They had 10 school uniforms prepared for various institutions, yet they could not complete a single term due to repeated invasions,” said Mrs. Fater.
Despite entreaties from civil society organizations visiting the camp, many of her daughters had already opted for marriage, seeing no prospective future in education.
“They chose marriage upon turning 18 because they lost hope of returning to school,” she added. “I didn’t compel them; it was their decision born of despair.”
Though aid and scholarship initiatives have provided assistance to a handful of girls, Mrs. Fater acknowledged such efforts remain insufficient. “Most young girls in this camp will marry if there is no sustainable way to assist them,” she warned.
The camp school only accommodates small children, leaving no support for older girls. Parents struggle to find stable work. Many women face sexual violence from assailants while farming. If no intervention occurs, an increasing number of girls will face similar fates as her own daughters.
Aisha Shehu, a 17-year-old girl from Maraban Dare, shared her experience of relinquishing education for marriage amid relentless attacks that stoke fear.
“The assaults disrupted our schooling, preventing us from completing secondary education. Our father wed us off due to the ongoing crisis. I live in constant fear; each month brings either a killing or livestock theft. There is no tranquility,” she narrated.
Generational Trauma
As the Plateau crisis extends its reach across a quarter of a century, many adults deprived of peace since birth are now bringing children into the same tumultuous surroundings.
Grace Emos, a 20-year-old from Riyom, representative of many young parents interviewed for this report, grew up amidst deadly violence and recently had a baby boy.
“There is no mental peace. We cannot farm; our husbands cannot cultivate crops or mine for sustenance without fear of attacks. We were born into violence, and today we are giving birth within this ongoing crisis,” she reflected solemnly.
Gloria recounted the harrowing day assailants invaded her community while she was four months pregnant. “We fled in disarray, desperately seeking refuge. Fortunately, God safeguarded me and my unborn child.”
Mr. Yakubu, a survivor of the Rim attack, married five years ago and is the father of three children. He lamented that nothing has improved; he and his children continue to witness violence. “They are also enduring it, and this cycle will perpetuate,” he expressed.
Aisha Shehu, who married last year and became a mother to a baby girl, remarked that bloodshed has become the norm for her.
“We learned that this violence has persisted for over 20 years; I am merely 17 and already a mother. I was born into it, and my children are undergoing the same experience. There is nothing more valuable than peace,” she stated, her gaze lowered in sorrow.
Resilience Amidst Turmoil
The journey from the deserted homes in Gwer West to the bustling realm of Makurdi showcases yet another facet of the crisis, particularly in the Guma Local Government Area. The children shaped by violence encompass not only those who fled with their mothers; some have matured into adulthood within displacement camps. Others, like 19-year-old Tersoo Ata from Yelwata, Guma LGA, have spent much of their lives striving for survival.
In Makurdi, opposite the Ultra-Modern International Market, a long procession of timber shelters basks in the sun’s rays. This is where Tersoo earns his living. At night, he sleeps in an overcrowded makeshift camp harboring over 4,000 displaced individuals.
Daily, he returns to the timber market, moving between wood piles searching for his daily earnings, which range from N1,500 to N3,000. This income fluctuates, often determining whether he will have three meals a day or skip one.
Dust swirls around each time the machine grinds into a plank. Despite the clattering noise, Tersoo, his fair face dusted with sawdust, remains close to the machinery, completing the work necessary for his survival. He also assists in loading heavy timber into customers’ vehicles.
Before displacement became his narrative, Tersoo resided with his family in Yelwata, which is situated near the border with Nasarawa, enduring repeated cycles of violence. He recollects that chaos began in Yelwata when he was roughly nine years old, unaware of how prolonged this threat would persist.
“Life for my family has been anything but easy,” he remarked. “Aside from my schooling, I was running a modest phone charging service.”
In June 2025, he finished secondary school, passed his exams, and gained admission into a polytechnic in Otukpo to study fine arts. His dream was straightforward; he aspired to become an artist, passionate about drawing and design. However, after armed groups overran the Yelwata settlement, his ambitions were effectively halted.
Tersoo recounted the harrowing night of June 13-14. “I was working in my shop that evening when I suddenly heard gunfire. I couldn’t return home as the attackers moved rapidly. I fled and lost everything, including phones belonging to customers.”
The following morning, he discovered the harrowing truth; his father, Ata, was fatally shot while attempting to flee with his two-year-old daughter, Nadoo.
“He carried my younger sister and was sprinting away, but they shot him in the back. The bullet pierced through him and struck my sister. They both lost their lives,” he said, his gaze lowered to the wood shavings beneath his feet.
“Sometimes, I have nightmares about how my father and younger sister were murdered. They were killed as if they were not human. Anger and sadness consume me for everything that has transpired.”
Now residing with his mother, Tersoo faces financial barriers that obstruct his education. His artistic aspirations remain postponed, overshadowed by both grief and hunger.
“This is not the life I envisioned,” he lamented, his eyes moist yet unwavering from the task at hand.
Currently, he remains ensnared in a repetitive cycle of violence and survival, a pattern threatening to dictate the futures of countless youth in Benue State who have known nothing but disorder.
The Mental Toll of Persistent Violence
Friday Philip, an associate professor and psychiatrist at Jos University Teaching Hospital, indicated that children's exposure to violence impacts cognitive development and behavior, potentially resulting in depression.
He emphasized that the psychological ramifications significantly distract schoolchildren from focusing on their studies and hinder their emotional stability. “If their emotional well-being is compromised, their behavior may become erratic, leading to tendencies towards violence within society,” asserted Philip.
Psychosocial therapist Ukeh George from the Federal Medical Centre in Makurdi echoes Philip’s observations, suggesting that the continuing impacts of violence on children may mold them into the threats they fear.
“The generational effects of today’s coerced displacement on the social and mental health of children in Benue and across Nigeria portend they may grow up to be future troublemakers, sadists, and bandits. This unfolding danger must be addressed now to safeguard future generations,” cautioned George, who also chairs the Benue State chapter of the Nigeria Association of Social Workers.
Clinical psychologist Joy Enewa noted that extended shelter living and the loss of family members yield far-reaching effects on young survivors within the two states.
She added that failure to take prompt actions could result in a cycle of violence marauding through the region perpetually.
“When a child suffers the loss of parents or loved ones, especially their mother, they lose affection. They begin to see life devoid of love, leading to societal repercussions as they view bloodshed as standard behavior; after all, their loved ones were taken from them brutally. Hence, bloodshed becomes inherent.”
“It creates a vicious cycle where perpetrators abduct these children, isolating them from normal life, rendering them vulnerable in search of peace while the assailants persistently undermine that peace, often enticing these children with what has been seized from them.”
In Pursuit of Sustainable Solutions
Various measures have long been in place to curtail the escalating crisis, with minimal success.
The Benue State Anti-Open Grazing Law, established in 2017, has been applauded as a proactive approach but has suffered from weak enforcement and lack of federal backing. Numerous committees have been constituted over the years, including presidential panels and state peace committees, yet their recommendations languish unimplemented, leaving communities to confront identical challenges year after year.
Military operations, such as Exercise Ayem A’kpatuma 1 & II (Cat Race) and Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), were also instituted. The establishment of locally oriented security measures like the Benue State Civil Guards (rebranded as the Benue State Civil Protection Guards) aimed to bolster community security but has been largely ineffective due to inadequate resources to counter the proficiency of armed formations.
In Plateau State, officials assert decisive actions to counter the unrest have been undertaken.
“A primary initial move is revitalizing the Plateau Peace Building Agency (PPBA),” articulated Gakji Shipi, Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s security and homeland safety advisor.
Shipi, a retired brigadier-general, elaborated that the agency was created “to address the early signs of conflict,” utilizing approaches like mediation, dialogue, and intervention strategies to avert deterioration of the situation.
“Furthermore, we consistently engage with federal security entities to ensure adherence to their mandates in re-establishing order,” he added.
He emphasized that the state has reactivated its security agency to intervene in community disputes, reiterating that the governor has made sure they have the necessary resources for effective intervention and to resolve ongoing crisis situations.
“This agency responds by gathering early warning signals in terms of intelligence and deploying personnel during incidents to mitigate losses in lives and property. Various initiatives, including capacity building, community engagement, and technology integration, are being pursued,” Shipi asserted.
A retired senior officer from the State Security Service (SSS), Orgem Angulum, has cautioned that conditions could deteriorate if immediate measures aren’t employed. He highlighted concerns for children who have spent extended periods in displacement camps, noting, “Many arrived as children and are now adults raising families in precarious situations.”
“If this trend persists, many of these youths may resort to criminal activity for survival,” he warned.
Angulum urged the federal government to convene a nationwide peace and security summit aimed at devising actionable strategies for countering insecurity throughout the country.
“It is imperative for immediate, tangible actions; security should not remain a matter of mere rhetoric. Measures must be executed before yet another generation comes to view only fear as their reality,” he cautioned.
A former Comptroller of Prisons, Iorbee Ihagh, has called upon President Bola Tinubu to instruct the military to remove bandits from the Benue region to enable farmers to return to their lands while assisting the internally displaced to go back to their ancestral homes.
Ihagh, who is also the President-General of Mdzough U Tiv (MUT), an umbrella organization for the Tiv people globally, argued that the only path to avert the ongoing insecurity in the state is for the federal government to mandate security personnel to drive away invaders.
He insisted that the violence persists largely due to federal apathy in timely addressing it.
“In my own case, I am also an IDP. Our five council wards in Turan have been overrun by intruders. We have been unable to access my village in Moon for over a decade. During my wife’s recent passing, we could not transport her remains there.”
Mr. Mom from BENGONET reiterated calls for government involvement to act upon the organization’s recommendations, which include initiating high-level discussions between the Benue and Taraba state governments in conjunction with the National Boundary Commission to settle longstanding boundary conflicts.
It also called for a reassessment of the anti-open grazing law to ensure better safeguarding of rural areas, establishing a permanent security presence in Turan as a deterrence measure, restoring trust in communities, and constructing access roads for enhanced security logistics and demonstrated connectivity.
Mr. Mom also advocated for robust support for community volunteer groups through provision of resources and training in collaboration with formal security agencies to elevate grassroots security operations.
From Usman, whose life started and ended in violence, to Sekegh, who endures a fractured childhood, and Aisha, a helpless teenage mother with an unsettled existence, the violence has struck hard, threatening to yield generations devoid of peace, sanity, education, and prospects unless addressed.
Additional report by Ademola Popoola
This report is a joint production of PREMIUM TIMES and DAILY TRUST.
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