‘Suspected herdsmen have killed 5,987 NKST members, destroyed 753 churches in Benue’

The Universal Reformed Christian Church — NKST — has rejected the Federal Government’s proposed pilot ranching programme in Benue State, saying 5,987 of its members have been killed and 753 worship centres destroyed in herdsmen attacks, making the resettlement of displaced communities a more urgent priority than any livestock policy.

In a statement by Synod Executive Committee General Secretary Rev. Ta Targba, as reported by Daily Post, the church questioned why a state devastated by violent conflict should be selected as “a laboratory for a policy involving land allocation for the same livestock economy that has been at the centre of these conflicts.”

Targba said thousands of displaced Benue residents remain unable to return to their ancestral communities, stressing that any land-related government policy must account for the ancestral rights, livelihoods and constitutional interests of affected people.

The church demanded adequate security guarantees and the safe, voluntary return of displaced persons as prerequisites for any agricultural intervention in the state.