(Dr. Edwin Ochai. Photoby Daily Post)
The Idoma Association USA has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to take urgent and decisive action to end the ongoing killings in Benue South Senatorial District, describing the attacks on Idoma communities as a sustained campaign of violence that has lasted more than a decade. Reader discretion is advised.
In a letter addressed to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the association expressed alarm over what it described as the wanton killing, maiming and near-total destruction of the Idoma people by suspected armed herdsmen.
The letter was jointly signed by the association’s President, Prince Dr. Edwin Ochai, and its Secretary, Chief Sylvester Onche Steno.
The group said it felt compelled, with heavy hearts, to draw the President’s attention to the ongoing violence against the people of Idoma land in Benue South Senatorial District, describing it as unchecked barbarism spanning over a decade.
It recalled the attacks of July 11 and 12, 2026, on Akpachi village in Ugboju and the Otukpo-Nobi communities in Otukpo Local Government Area, where at least 20 people were reportedly killed, dozens injured and numerous homes destroyed.
According to the association, these attacks were not isolated events but part of an ongoing pattern of violence affecting communities across Agatu, Apa, Otukpo, Ohimini, Okpokwu, Ado, Obi and Oju local government areas.
The group expressed particular anguish that the killings were preventable, noting that the Och’Idoma, the traditional ruler, had received advance intelligence of the planned attack and promptly alerted relevant security agencies, only for that warning to go unheeded before the attackers struck.
It questioned the reliability of the country’s security apparatus, asking what could protect the people if credible intelligence fails to do so, while reminding the President that safeguarding lives and property remains a core constitutional responsibility of government.
The association stressed that Idoma people are full citizens of Nigeria deserving the same protection as anyone else, yet for over a decade their communities have endured repeated attacks, with farmers killed in their fields, women assaulted, children left orphaned, and residents displaced within their own land.
It said the perpetrators are not unknown or invisible but armed individuals operating with impunity, without consequence.
While acknowledging Governor Hyacinth Alia’s visit to Otukpo following the recent attacks, the group expressed disappointment that he did not visit the affected communities themselves, noting that this absence was deeply felt by grieving and displaced families still living in fear.
The association insisted that sympathy and symbolic gestures were no longer sufficient, calling instead for concrete action rather than condolences issued after each attack.
Among its demands, it urged the President to immediately deploy military and security personnel to Idoma land, order a full investigation into the killings, identify and prosecute those responsible, examine why the Och’Idoma’s intelligence was reportedly ignored, establish permanent security posts in vulnerable areas, and provide humanitarian aid, medical care and compensation to victims and their families.
The group noted that the Idoma people had remained peaceful despite years of provocation but warned that their patience should not be mistaken for weakness, stressing that their lives hold value and their restraint has limits.
It appealed to Tinubu, as the nation’s leader, to act before desperation pushes the community toward outcomes no one desires, insisting that their demands for justice, protection and peaceful coexistence on their ancestral land represent nothing more than the basic expectations of citizenship.
Copies of the letter were also sent to the Vice President, the National Security Adviser, the Chief of Defence Staff, the Inspector-General of Police, the Governor of Benue State, the senator representing Benue South Senatorial District, the Och’Idoma, and the President-General of Ochetoha K’Idoma.
