TRAVELOGUE: Following Nigerian Military to Benue’s Ghost Villages
The road into Tatyough, Yelwata are quiet now, too quiet for a place that, barely months ago. The communities were featured regularly in Nigeria’s insecurity headlines. As our convoy moved slowly past farmlands and thin clusters of homes, farmers appeared cautiously: some with firewood strapped to motorcycles, others pushing bicycles loaded with produce. It was a scene of tentative normalcy—fragile, but unmistakable. This calm did not come easily.
Across parts of Benue, Nasarawa, and Taraba States Nigeria’s volatile Middle Belt violence had hardened into routine. Communities were emptied, farms abandoned, and entire local government areas reduced to contested spaces where armed groups moved in and out to wreak havoc on villagers. This writer has reported extensively on the repeated bloodshed in this part of the country. Guma Local Government Area of Benue, in particular, had become a byword for carnage.
What we were witnessing on this fact-finding mission was the result of months of sustained military pressure under Operation Whirl Stroke, a joint task force operation mandated to stabilise some of the country’s most complex internal security theatres.
We began our journey from Abuja, the Nigeria capital city to Benue State on Tuesday, 20 January 2026, for 2-day on the spot assessment mission. Myself and other selected defence correspondents drawn from different media platforms.
On arrival, we were briefed on a comprehensive overview of ongoing military activities aimed at addressing security threats across the general area by the Commander, 401 Special Forces Brigade, Brigadier General Kolawale Bukoye, before proceeding to Tatyough, a village about 50 kilometres from central Makurdi.
Entering a War Zone
From there, we moved into Tatyough to meet Lieutenant Colonel Donatus Otobo, the Commanding Officer of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Intervention Battalion XI.
“We were deployed to this axis in July 2025. We had over five attacks on the first day alone across different communities,” Otobo recalled as he addressed defence correspondents during the on-the-spot operational assessment.
“The second day, it was the same story. Gunmen attacked us repeatedly as we attempted to move in.”
The attacks came from different directions—classic hit-and-run tactics employed by armed groups familiar with the terrain and emboldened by years of weak state presence. Forest corridors, river lines, and deserted border communities provided ideal cover.
Yet within weeks, the battalion began to turn the tide.
Through aggressive patrols, day-and-night ambushes, and deep forest penetration, troops pushed armed groups back toward known hideouts across neighbouring states. Yelwata—once infamous for deadly raids fell under firm military control.
The area had witnessed one of its worst massacres between June 13 and 14, 2025, when villagers were attacked and killed.
“Since our deployment in Yelwata, no bandit has been able to come close,” Otobo said. “We dominate this ground.”
Unlike permanent garrison forces, Intervention Battalion XI was designed to clear troubled areas and redeploy.
“Our headquarters here is makeshift,” Otobo explained, gesturing around the temporary camp in Tatyough. “We are not here to sit down. We clear, stabilise, and move on to other flashpoints.”
The battalion’s area of responsibility spans Guma Local Government Area, a vast landscape bordering multiple local governments in Nasarawa, Taraba, Plateau States, including Awe, Keana, and Doma—long identified as transit zones for armed groups.
“When there is pressure from the Nasarawa side, they flee into Benue,” Otobo said. “When we push them here, they run back across the border.”
The challenge, he noted, is terrain. River lines that swell during the rainy season, dense forests, and abandoned settlements complicate pursuit. Yet cooperation with sister units across state lines has yielded results.
“Just yesterday, we arrested a criminal because of collaboration with our Nasarawa counterparts,” he revealed. “Information sharing is making a difference.”
Before the battalion’s arrival, Guma was a killing field.
“On average, Guma recorded about ten killings every week,” Otobo said bluntly. “Today, we go for months without a single attack.”
That claim is borne out by what we saw. Roads once considered impassable now carry civilian traffic. Farmers have returned cautiously to their fields. Hunters and local guides now accompany patrols—something unimaginable a year earlier.
“It is our effort that made this possible,” Otobo said. “Before we came, no civilian could pass the NASME, the Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering, Makurdi and enter this area.” But the calm remains incomplete.
Some residents who spoke with journalists expressed renewed trust in the military and optimism that peace would be sustained. They credited the effectiveness of Operation Whirl Stroke with creating an environment conducive to resettlement and livelihood restoration.
One returnee, Mr Victor Tor, a farmer and indigene of Tatyough, said he had returned to resume farming on his ancestral land after being displaced by insecurity.
“I am a son of the soil. I have returned to continue my farming on my ancestral land,” Tor said.
He praised the troops for their professionalism and dedication, praying for their continued presence in the area until full trust was rebuilt among communities affected by years of violence. According to him, the sustained deployment of troops has given residents the confidence to rebuild their lives.
Similarly, Martha Tyo,
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another local resident, agreed that there has been an improvement in the security environment as a result of ongoing operations. She added that the operation has helped stabilise communities across the state and encouraged displaced persons to begin returning to their villages.
Calm Without Closure
Across Benue state communities like Tatyough, Yelwata, and others, security has largely been restored, but full civilian return remains slow.
According to Major General Moses Gara, Force Commander of Joint Task Force Operation Whirl Stroke, the reasons are layered.
“Security is not the only factor,” Gara explained during a detailed briefing. “Transportation is a major challenge. People are trekking in and out. There is no organised transport.”
Another factor is timing. “When we deployed, it was the peak of the planting season,” Lt Col Otobo added. “Many people missed that cycle. They are now struggling economically.”
Fear also lingers. Years of violence do not evaporate with a few months of calm. Many displaced persons continue to weigh the risk of return against the relative safety of IDP camps.
Yet for the military, return is a key performance indicator.
“One of our core mandates is to ensure displaced persons return to their communities, if people cannot go back home, we cannot sleep well, ” Gara said.
Beyond bullets and patrols, Operation Whirl Stroke is fighting a more insidious enemy: narrative.
“I have realised that a narrative has permeated society here,” Gara said. “That there is a deliberate plan by certain ethnic groups to dispossess indigenes of their land.”
This belief, he explained, has fuelled mistrust, hardened communal positions, and justified the proliferation of illegal arms.
“We have evidence of community armouries, communities contribute money to buy weapons, supposedly for defence. These weapons are now used for all kinds of criminality,” Gara revealed.
The consequence is a vicious cycle: communities arm themselves out of fear, criminals exploit those weapons, and intelligence dries up as locals refuse to cooperate.
“When we recover weapons, it is interpreted as disarming locals and making them vulnerable,” Gara said. “That makes our work harder.”
The prolonged massacres in Benue State and other states have placed Nigeria under international scrutiny, with some global actors framing the violence as “religious genocide,” a narrative that has cast the country in a negative light. U.S. President Donald Trump had previously designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern” over religious freedom.
The Nigerian government has since been battling to correct this narrative through various diplomatic and strategic engagements.
Interestingly, Gara noted that similar violence has not entrenched itself in Taraba and Nasarawa in the same way.
“In Taraba, this narrative of dispossession does not exist,” he said. “They have functional conflict-resolution mechanisms. Perpetrators are identified and arrested.”
In some cases, traditional rulers have even been removed for fuelling conflict.
“In Benue, everything is viewed through the lens of this narrative,” Gara said. “That is the complexity.”
The Non-Kinetic Turning Point
While recognising the limits of force, Operation Whirl Stroke has invested heavily in non-kinetic measures through dialogue, mediation, and stakeholder engagement.
“Every conflict ends on the table,” Gara said. “History teaches us that.”
In Guma, those efforts are beginning to yield results. Lt Col Otobo described recent meetings between Fulani herders and Tiv community leaders.
“Just yesterday, we had over 50 Fulani and over 50 Tiv leaders in one meeting,” he said. “They are beginning to talk.”
The impact is tangible. Intelligence now flows from unlikely sources.
“Recently, it was Fulani who reported criminal elements to us,” Otobo said. “They are helping us track them.”
In one case, herders alerted troops to the movement of a criminal group bent on attacking both Tiv and Fulani communities underscoring that not all violence here is communal.
“This is a criminal group, they attack everyone,” Otobo stressed.
Holding the Line
Despite progress, both commanders are clear-eyed about limitations.
“We cannot be everywhere,” Gara said. “Guma alone is massive. Villages are small, scattered, and spread out.”
The solution, he argued, lies in governance. “The state must pick it up from where we are,” Gara said. “Our troops should not be stuck here forever.”
Road rehabilitation, functional policing, swift investigations, and prosecution of offenders are essential to prevent relapse.
A Fragile Peace
As our convoy prepared to leave Tatyough, the sun dipped low over the fields. A group of farmers waved as they passed ordinary gestures in extraordinary circumstances.
Peace here is real, but fragile. Operation Whirl Stroke has reclaimed territory, disrupted criminal networks, and restored a measure of confidence to communities long abandoned to fear. But sustaining that peace will require more than soldiers and patrols.
What we found on the ground was reassuring. Civilians are gradually returning to their hometowns, while the military remains visibly prepared to secure communities ahead of the new farming season.
Benue, the once-troubled areas are reopening, confidence is being restored, and humanitarian access is improving. From our observations and engagements, there is growing assurance that Benue State is on course to reclaim its status as the “Food Basket of the Nation,” driven by sustained military efforts and the resilience of its people.
For now, the guns are quieter. The roads are open. And in places like Guma, Nigeria has been given another chance to get it right.
Kabir, is senior correspondent with PRNigeria. He can be reached via: [email protected]
