Former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, has raised alarm over the escalating bandit attacks in Benue State, warning that the continued displacement of farmers could spark a severe food crisis beyond the immediate security threat.
Benue, widely known as Nigeria’s “Food Basket of the Nation” due to its rich agricultural output, has been increasingly affected by violent attacks that have forced farmers away from their land and disrupted food production.
During an interview on Arise News Channel on Thursday, Aondoakaa stressed that the worsening insecurity requires urgent, non-partisan intervention, insisting that political interests must be completely removed from efforts to restore peace in the state.
“This is a situation that politics should be completely set aside because you are talking of a situation where 80 per cent in Benue State are farmers and the farmers have been displaced. There’s a potential danger of hunger that’s more serious than the mayhem being caused by the bandits,” he said.
He warned that armed groups were gradually relocating into the Benue Valley, with Benue State becoming a major hotspot for their operations.
According to him, the scale of destruction and occupation by bandits is deeply troubling.
Aondoakaa highlighted Ukum Local Government Area as a clear example, revealing that 10 of its 13 wards have reportedly fallen under bandit control.
He added that insurgents have established themselves less than three kilometres from Ukum’s main market, a critical hub for yam production in the country, describing the development as extremely dangerous.
Expressing concern over the growing threat, he said, “As the bandits are moving away from Sokoto, concentrating within the Benue Valley, particularly around Benue State and their environs, causing mayhem. My understanding is that the ground forces will move on them within the Benue axis. But it looks like, from what you said, they have come in numbers. They are overturning villages. I will give you a particular local government, which is the Ukum local government. Out of 13 wards, there’s an occupation of 10 wards. You can, at the main market in Ukum, which is the exact main market that produces yams for the country, they have settled less than three kilometers away from the main market. And that is alarming.”
Reflecting on past responses to similar security challenges, Aondoakaa recalled that during the administration of former President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, the federal government adopted a hardline, zero-tolerance approach against banditry.
“When this crisis started, during the President Yar’adua’s time, because I always refer to where I was an active participant, what the government adopted was no mercy. There was zero tolerance of mercy on the bandits. Anywhere we heard there was concentration, our military used to go there to flush them out,” he said.
He reiterated that the current situation poses a grave risk to national food security, noting again that the majority of Benue residents depend on farming for survival.
“This is a situation that politics should be completely set aside because you are talking of a situation where 80% in Benue State are farmers and the farmers have been displaced. There’s a potential danger of hunger that’s moving more serious than the mayhem being caused by the bandits,” he added.
Aondoakaa also called for enhanced cooperation between Nigeria and its international partners, particularly the United States, arguing that such partnerships do not compromise the country’s sovereignty.
“I still think that collaborating with U.S. or any other country to flush out the bandits does not in any way undermine the integrity of this country. I have faith, great hope, in the security architecture of President Bola Tinubu now. But it goes beyond having faith in government. It goes to practical action. And this action entails that government of Nigeria must collaborate with sister countries, neighbouring countries, and collaborate with U.S. to put a stop to this mayhem because there’s no purpose for this mandate,” he said.
He explained that his advocacy for foreign collaboration was based on recent precedents, citing a joint Nigerian–U.S. security operation in Sokoto State as proof that such partnerships can be effective.
“My call was in good faith. It did not in any way undermine the sovereignty of this country. If you get from what transpired, the Nigerian government said they acted, they gave the intelligence to the Americans. The Americans did not just come here. The Minister of Foreign Affairs was emphatic that the strike in Sokoto was a collaboration between the Americans and the Nigerian government. Nigeria gave them the intelligence,” he said.
Aondoakaa urged the Federal Government to adopt a similar strategy in Benue State, whether through the Nigerian Air Force or with the support of international allies, to prevent further occupation of communities and farmlands.
“Now, what I said is that there should be the same collaboration between the Nigerian government and U.S. government to flush them out anywhere they are trying to concentrate in a group,” he said.
He further added, “Anywhere there is collaboration, there’s concentration. The bandits are concentrating. There’s need for either the Nigerian Air Force to move in, or if they do not have the capacity, then the same collaboration that happened with the U.S. government to flush them out.”
He concluded by emphasising that the scale of displacement and the looming threat to food production demand immediate security action, warning that failure to act decisively could plunge Benue State and the country, into a deeper hunger crisis.
