Tinubu: Why have no arrests been made in Benue? Service Chiefs: Create Ranches For Fulanis Across Nigeria

Fulani Jihadists celebrate CDS' stance with 14 Christian heads in Plateau; Intersociety kicks

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Gwabim Musa, has replied President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s, the Commander-in-Chief’s, question on why no arrests have been made over the June 13-14, 2025, massacre of 260 Christians in Benue State.

Replying to President Tinubu, General Musa replied: “We must create (Fulani) ranches across the country to prevent farmers-herders’ clashes”.

Musa made the remarks during a public event on Wednesday, July 23, 2025.

He had said: “In order to address insecurity, two things are basic. We must be able to control the movement of animals across the region.

“In doing that, it is important we create ranches.

“Ranches will do a great deal in securing our control and will prevent the conflict between the Farmer-Herders clashes.

“Secondly, we must learn to stop killing animals crossing into farms. What is done is you arrest the animals and compensations are made.

“If we are able to address these two things, over 65% of challenges we have against farmers will be dealt with.”

Reacting to General Musa’s response, Mr. Emeka Umeagbalasi, the head of International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), Nigeria’s leading research and investigative Human Rights, Rule of Law and Security and Safety advocacy group, thought the response is ridiculous.

Speaking in a press release made available to Diaspora Digital Media (DDM) on Sunday, Mr. Umeagbalasi said:

“We hereby make bold to say that the CDS has answered a million dollar question of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, his Commander-in-Chief, asked when he visited Benue on June 18, 2025 and asked the Service Chiefs: “Why have no arrests been made in Benue State?”

“President Tinubu’s million dollar followed systematic, well-coordinated and egregious massacre of over 200 unarmed and defenseless Christians in Yelwata part of Benue State on June13-14, 2025, which has since risen to 260 deaths.

“Till date, not even a single attacker involved in the gruesome killings has been arrested.

“Apart from CDS habitually rushing to the pages of newspaper and other media spaces to flood them with unguarded, unscientific and unverifiable utterances and grossly biased opinions and speeches, his latest emergence as “avowed advocate of Fulani Ranching (RUGA) Settlements” is a clear testament of continued use of Thy Shall Not Touch Or Arrest My Fellow Fulani Tribesmen’s Commander-in-Chief Operational Code alleged to have been handed down by former President Muhammad Buhari and knowingly or unknowingly retained till date by President Tinubu.

“By the CDS’s additional statement: “Secondly, we must learn to stop killing animals crossing into farms. What is done is you arrest the animals and compensations are made”, as appointed CDS since June 2023, he was likely to have inherited the former C-in-C second operational code which places more value and sanctity to lives of Fulani cows than lives of members of human family particularly Christians and other non-Muslim others regularly massacred at will and with reckless abandon, with the country’s military and other security forces under Gen Musa as their chief doing nothing other than reckless resort to medicine-after-death approaches or shedding of crocodile tears.

“Unmasking Real Motives Behind Fulani Cattle Ranching Settlements: The setting aside of N60 Billion FG grant for every complying State is for the establishment of “New Fulani Communities and their permanent Settlements”, targeted at Christian-held areas using the military’s hitherto classified “Counterinsurgency Forest Mapping” statistics of late 2015; with the real motives being to quarter Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen in isolated forest, bush and farm settlement locations.

“In other words, the “Jihadist Fulani Cattle Ranching or RUGA Settlement Program” using the N60B FG Grant involves provision of large communal forest lands and equipping them with health centers, access roads, Islamic schools, boreholes, internet facilities, telephone network facilities, mosques, official residences for Fulani leaders (Emirs), secret installation of Fulani Emirs, provision of military and police posts guarding them and linking of the area to the National Geography and central security monitoring servers and networks, etc. Such settlements will thereafter be converted to terror and jihadist attack hub.

“500 (million) Illicit Arms in West Africa? We are raising fresh question to CDS in connection with his recent statement that: “500m illicit arms are in West Africa and 40% (200m) in Nigeria”.

“By logic and critical thinking, if 500m illicit arms are circulating in West Africa and 40% (200m) in Nigeria, what are the current United Nations estimated human populations in West Africa and Nigeria and their illicit arms per capita and does it mean that in West Africa with UN estimated population of 467m and Nigeria, with estimated 228m, there are more illicit arms (500m) in the Sub-Region than their estimated human population of 467m.

“Does it also mean that in Nigeria, with UN estimated population of 228m, there is roughly an illicit arms for her every living citizen including newborn?”

“14 Plateau Christians Slaughtered To Celebrate CDS Supportive Stance”

Umeagbalasi further regretted how 14 defenseless Plateau Christians were slaughtered on July 24, 2025, by Fulani Jihadists “to celebrate the unscientific and sectarian violence supportive stance of the CDS”.

He noted that the Jihadists went on rampage and attacked commuters and others in Bokkos, located in Jos South of Plateau State.

According to reports, they slaughtered at least 14 defenseless Christians.

An Army Colonel, Dauda Magems, was quoted as saying: “we are trying to put the situation under control”.

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