Daud Olatunji
A leaked memo has revealed that the Department of State Services (DSS) alerted military authorities to imminent attacks on several communities in Benue and Nasarawa states nearly a month before gunmen killed over 200 people in coordinated raids.
The confidential document, dated May 13 and seen by TheCable, was addressed to Moses Gara, the commander of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), a joint military task force operating in the Middle Belt region. Despite the intelligence, the deadly attacks still occurred on June 13, with the Yelewata and Daudu communities in Guma Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State suffering the worst carnage.
According to the memo, the DSS warned of planned reprisals by suspected Fulani militias over the alleged seizure of cattle by the Benue State government. It identified several vulnerable communities in Benue and neighbouring Nasarawa State as targets, including Yelewata, which was eventually overrun by gunmen in the bloodbath that claimed the lives of farmers, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and local residents.
The secret police revealed that the militias had been gathering in key locations and conducting strategic meetings in Doma LGA of Nasarawa, particularly in Akpanaja, Rukuhi, and Andori settlements. It added that heavily armed fighters were camped in forests around Amako, Igbabo, and Ikom near Yelwata-Udei-Ukohol and Kadarko Railway, plotting attacks on Tiv communities and others located in Agatu, Gwer East, Gwer West, Makurdi, and Guma LGAs.
Despite the chilling intelligence, a response from the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) appeared slow. The DSS memo highlighted the urgency of the threat, yet the attacks proceeded as predicted.
In reaction to the killings, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, disclosed that troops had been deployed to Yelewata on the day of the attack but were diverted by false intelligence suggesting another village was under siege.
“There was a fake attack in the other village,” Musa told reporters. “When the troops moved in, that was when they (the attackers) struck Yelewata.”
Earlier in May, the OPWS commander, Moses Gara, reportedly held a “high-level meeting” in Makurdi with leaders of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), local officials, and security operatives to discuss rising insecurity in the state. According to a statement by Lawal Osabo, acting assistant director of army public relations for the 401 Special Forces Brigade, issues such as farmer-herder clashes, retaliatory violence, kidnappings, and cattle rustling were raised.
Osabo noted that the concerns would be communicated to higher authorities, including the Benue State Government. However, critics say the outcome of that meeting failed to prevent the carnage that followed weeks later.
Efforts to reach key military spokespersons and DSS officials for comments were unsuccessful. Edward Buba, Director of Defence Media Operations, could not be reached .
DSS has no known official spokesperson and had not responded at the time of filing this report.
Benue has been one of Nigeria’s most volatile states in recent years, plagued by deadly clashes between herders and farmers, with thousands killed and thousands more displaced.
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