6,896 Dead in Benue: Atiku Accuses Tinubu of Letting Food Basket Bleed
Abuja / Makurdi – August 31, 2026 — Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has delivered a sharp rebuke of the Tinubu administration over the escalating insecurity in Benue State, describing the once-proud “Food Basket of the Nation” as a region now “bleeding” from relentless attacks on farmers and communities.
In a detailed statement posted on X Monday, Atiku referenced an Amnesty International investigation that recorded 6,896 people killed in Benue alone during the first two years of President Bola Tinubu’s government.
The rights group’s broader findings put the national toll from armed attacks across several states at more than 10,200 in that period, with Benue accounting for the highest number and over 200 villages sacked.
“Behind that figure are farmers who never returned from their farms, families driven from their ancestral homes, and communities emptied by fear,” Atiku wrote.
He argued that the violence has direct consequences for every Nigerian household: when Benue cannot farm, the prices of yam, rice, beans, vegetables and meat rise across the country. “Insecurity is not only a security crisis; it is now a cost-of-living tax on every Nigerian family.”
Personal Stake and Broader Critique
Speaking as both a former vice president and a farmer whose own farms have suffered theft and disruption, Atiku said he understands the human and economic toll firsthand. He reminded Nigerians of the promise that accompanied the removal of the fuel subsidy—that freed resources would be channeled into development and security.
Yet, he noted, the Nigeria Customs Service disclosed about ₦34 trillion in import-duty exemption approvals in 2025, with a substantial portion linked to military hardware.
“So Nigerians are entitled to ask a simple question: Where is the security? Where are the results?” he asked. “If Nigerians must pay more for fuel so government can have more resources, and enormous concessions are being approved in the name of national priorities, then Nigerians should not also be paying with their lives.”
Peace Experience and Political Context
Atiku stressed that the crisis is solvable. He recalled previous efforts in which he helped broker peace between Tiv and Fulani communities, insisting that “criminality has no tribe. A killer is a killer. A thief is a thief.”
He called for decisive action to punish criminals, protect farmers, secure livestock owners and restore peaceful coexistence.
The statement coincided with his meeting with African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidates seeking elective positions in Benue.
Atiku, the party’s 2027 presidential candidate, urged them to prioritise protecting lives, restoring livelihoods, and making food affordable again over mere electoral victory.
Benue has long been one of Nigeria’s most productive agricultural states, but years of farmer-herder clashes, banditry, and communal violence have displaced hundreds of thousands and left vast farmlands abandoned.
While Amnesty’s death-toll figures have been contested by some analysts and government officials who cite lower independent datasets, the scale of displacement and the impact on food production remain widely acknowledged challenges.
Atiku closed with a pointed challenge: “Tinubu removed the subsidy. Nigerians paid the price. Government got the resources. Benue should not still be paying with blood. Secure Benue. Restore the Food Basket. Make Nigeria affordable again.”
The remarks add to the intensifying political debate over insecurity and living costs as Nigeria moves toward the 2027 general elections.
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