Ejiofor Slams FG Over Killings, Says ‘Farmers-Herders Clashes’ Label Masks Nigeria’s Bloodshed

By Titus Eleweke

Anambra-born human rights lawyer and lead counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has accused the Federal Government of failing to adequately confront persistent killings, kidnappings and attacks on rural communities, warning that describing violent incidents as “farmers–herders clashes” could obscure the scale and nature of Nigeria’s security crisis.

Ejiofor, who made the allegations in his Midweek Musings commentary on Wednesday, argued that the use of generic descriptions for attacks on vulnerable communities, without clear evidence of reciprocal confrontations, risked downplaying organised violence and weakening public accountability.

He expressed concern over the continued activities of armed groups, kidnappers and suspected jihadist extremists in different parts of the country, questioning how such groups had maintained access to forested territories and carried out repeated attacks despite successive security operations.

According to him, the central concern is not only the persistence of the violence but also the language used to explain it to the public.

“When an armed assault upon a vulnerable community is casually described as a ‘farmers–herders clash’ without compelling evidence of a reciprocal confrontation, the terminology risks obscuring the distinction between organised violence and an ordinary communal disagreement,” he stated.

Ejiofor, who holds the traditional title of Dunu-Ezeugosinachi, maintained that the characterisation of attacks should be guided by credible investigations rather than descriptions that could conceal the circumstances surrounding the violence.

He cited a reported attack on a community in Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, which he said occurred on October 20, as another indication of the devastating consequences of insecurity.

The lawyer warned that reducing such incidents to generic accounts of farmer-herder confrontations without transparent investigations could normalise violence and prevent the public from understanding the actual circumstances surrounding the attacks.

He also expressed concern over the reported arraignment of suspects of Fulani extraction in connection with the kidnapping of members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Imo State.

Ejiofor questioned whether security agencies were doing enough to dismantle the wider criminal networks behind kidnapping operations, beyond arresting individual suspects.

He called for investigations into the alleged perpetrators’ operational bases, sources of weapons and funding, and networks of collaborators.

He also questioned how the suspects were able to travel long distances, establish themselves in forested areas and operate kidnapping networks without being detected by security agencies in a timely manner.

“These are not questions of ethnic hostility; they are elementary questions of criminal intelligence, national security and the enforcement of the law,” he said.

The lawyer also cited repeated attacks on agrarian communities in Benue State, which he said had resulted in devastating consequences for human lives, agricultural production, ancestral inheritance and residents’ ability to remain in their homes.

On Plateau State, Ejiofor referred to a recent reported attack in which worshippers were killed, describing the incident as another tragic reminder of the consequences of insecurity.

He also referenced an image reportedly showing Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo sitting inside the grave of victims of the killings, saying it symbolised the human cost of the failure to protect vulnerable communities.

Against this backdrop, Ejiofor urged the Federal Government to adopt what he described as a coherent, intelligence-driven and constitutionally compliant security strategy to address terrorism, kidnapping and attacks on civilians.

He insisted that armed groups responsible for such crimes must be confronted decisively, while security agencies should intensify efforts to identify and dismantle the networks that sustain their operations.

“The Nigerian State must never surrender its sovereignty, territorial integrity, or constitutional authority to terrorist elements,” he said.

He added that dialogue should not become a substitute for effective action against armed criminal groups.

Ejiofor further warned that the absence of a nationwide collapse should not be mistaken for lasting peace, arguing that continued violence and politically convenient descriptions of bloodshed could undermine public confidence in the country’s security response.

He called for urgent action to protect Nigerians across religious, ethnic and geographical lines, stressing that the government had a responsibility to guarantee the safety of citizens and enforce the law without discrimination.

“A nation that learns to explain away the blood of its citizens may eventually discover that the very peace it took for granted has been mortgaged to the silence of the grave,” he added.