MAKURDI — While the high command of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) celebrates its recent flurry of arrests in the Agatu and Guma local government areas, a bitter wave of resentment is rising among Benue residents who accuse the military of practicing “selective justice.”
The recent crackdown, which saw the neutralization of two suspects and the arrest of several others for cattle rustling between March 3 and March 7, 2026, has been met with a stinging rebuke from locals. Many argue that the military has become a “security guard for cows” while failing to stop the relentless massacre of the human beings who own the land.
‘Protecting Cows, Ignoring Corpses’
The latest military report highlights the arrest of three residents—Mamuda Hussein, Sunday Moses, and Teny Musa—found with three cows in a Sienna bus. While the Army frames this as a win against “criminal elements,” residents view it as the persecution of locals driven to desperate measures after their own livelihoods were destroyed.
“The Army is only good at arresting cattle rustlers, but the terrorists killing our people daily walk free,” one resident fumed on social media following the announcement. This sentiment is backed by a grim reality on the ground: just as the military was parading its rustling suspects, at least 20 persons were reportedly slaughtered by suspected armed herdsmen in the Mbachom community of Kwande LGA on Thursday night.
The Double Standard Allegation
Critiques from across the state point to a perceived imbalance in military response:
- Rapid Response for Cattle: When a boat was spotted with two stolen cows in Guma, troops mobilized immediately to intercept the suspects.
- Delayed Response for Human Life: In contrast, residents of Nyiev and Mbavuur council wards have spent weeks raising alarms about “armed herders roaming farmlands” with no significant military intervention to flush them out before they strike.
“They call us rustlers for taking back what was stolen or retaliating for our destroyed farms,” says a local volunteer in Agatu. “But when our women are kidnapped or our children are butchered in their sleep, we are told to ‘be patient’ while the killers retreat into the bush with near impunity”.
Military and Government Defense
Despite the backlash, Major General Moses Gara has maintained that cattle rustling is a “major driver of violence” that must be crushed to restore peace. Similarly, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, recently urged troops in Makurdi to remain “neutral and impartial,” stressing that taking the law into one’s own hands only worsens the cycle of reprisal.
However, for the thousands of displaced persons currently sleeping in open camps, the military’s “impartiality” feels increasingly like a betrayal. As long as the arrest of a few rustlers makes more headlines than the capture of mass murderers, the cry of “selective justice” will continue to haunt the Benue Valley.
