Human Security Threats and Forced Migration in Benue State, Nigeria.

Abstract

The security dilemma in Benue State has rendered the farming communities in the state unsafe and unhabitable, forcing the population into massive relocation, displacements and forced migration. The people have been denied of the much-needed security, which is a sine qua non for actualizing life’s aspirations. The paper examines human security threats and forced migration in Benue State. It employed the qualitative research method with semi-structured interview as its instrument of field data collection, and adopted the structural functionalist and forced migration (push-pull model) theories. A sample of forty-five (45) participants (community leaders, displaced persons, farmers, local vigilantes and migrant returnees) were selected by means of purposive sampling from five of the hardest hit local government areas (Agatu, Guma, Logo, Kwande and Makurdi) in the state. The research questions were answered using the data collected from field survey. The responses were used in analyzing each question thematically. The study reveals that the major drivers of the security threats in Benue State have been the unresolved feud between farmers and herders over grazing rights; the passage of the open grazing prohibition law by the state government in 2017; and the failure of the government to secure the people from the persistent attacks. Again, the forceful displacements of most of the populations from their homes, the loss of livelihoods, the massive killings and destructions, among other threats, have pushed many of the population into forced migration as a means of escape. More so, the security crisis has created series of socioeconomic and humanitarian problems in the state. Based on the findings the study recommends that the federal government should as a matter of urgency depoliticize the crisis by unleashing the outright punishment on the criminal elements among herders in Benue State, and other parts of the country. The state government should initiate peace building efforts in the affected communities by ensuring that only genuine herders operate their herding business in the state. Also, the government, both state and federal, should ensure that facilities in IDPs are safe and conducive for the temporary abode of displaced persons, and then reconstruct and rehabilitate their native homes for their safe return and habitation. Lastly, the paper emphasized the need for the government to strengthen and equip the security structure in the country for adequate security of people and their livelihoods.