MAKURDI, NIGERIA — Amidst a wave of brutal killings that have left families mourning and villages deserted, a staggering new report has revealed that the Benue State Government spent a mere 0.3% of its N41 billion security budget in the early months of 2026.
The data, which exposes a massive gap between the government’s rhetoric on safety and its actual expenditure, comes at a time when the state is witnessing a grim rise in the number of corpses arriving at local mortuaries due to unrelenting attacks by armed groups.
Neglect Amidst the Carnage
While Governor Hyacinth Alia has repeatedly promised to prioritize the lives of Benue citizens, the financial records suggest a different reality. Out of a massive N41 billion earmarked for security to protect the state’s vulnerable communities, only a fraction — roughly N123 million — was actually deployed during the first quarter of the year.
Critics and human rights advocates are now pointing the finger directly at the Governor, accusing the administration of criminal negligence. “The Governor cannot claim to be overwhelmed by insecurity when he is sitting on billions of naira meant for the very purpose of protecting the people,” said one local activist who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal. “While the budget sits idle in government accounts, the people are paying with their lives.”
The Human Cost of Inaction
The consequences of this budgetary failure are written in blood across the Benue landscape. From the Agatu riverbanks to the farming communities of Katsina-Ala and Guma, the mounting number of casualties has reached a crisis point.
Survivors of recent raids describe a complete absence of state-funded security interventions, with many claiming that security agencies in the state are under-resourced and lack the necessary logistical support to respond to distress calls — support that the N41 billion budget was intended to provide.
A Governor Under Fire
The revelation of the 0.3% expenditure has sparked outrage across the state, with many viewing it as an indictment of Governor Alia’s leadership. The administration has struggled to explain why funds were not released to bolster local vigilante groups, improve surveillance, or provide the necessary hardware for security agencies during a period of active conflict.
“Every corpse buried in this state is a testament to a government that has failed its primary constitutional duty,” a spokesperson for a leading opposition group stated. “You cannot fight a war with press releases while the war chest remains locked.”
As the death toll continues to rise, the people of Benue are left wondering how many more lives must be lost before the billions allocated for their safety are actually put to use.
