A leaked memo from the Department of State Services (DSS) has revealed that the security agency alerted military authorities of planned attacks on communities in Benue and Nasarawa states weeks before the June 13 massacre that left over 200 dead in the Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.
The memo, dated May 13, was addressed to Moses Gara, Commander of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), a military-led joint task force operating in the North Central region.
The DSS, in the memo seen by TheCable, warned that suspected Fulani militias were plotting attacks on settlements in Awe LGA of Nasarawa State and across Benue, allegedly in retaliation for the seizure of cattle by the state government.
Among the communities listed in the memo were Yelewata, Daudu, Akon, Chiata, Kaambe, Vandikya, Apelle, and parts of Makurdi, Agatu, and Gwer East/West. Notably, Yelewata, where over 100 were reportedly killed, was one of the areas marked for imminent attack.
“Reports indicate that they have been holding a series of meetings in Akpanaja, Rukuhi and Andori settlements in Doma LGA and have stationed their men at designated forests for a coordinated offensive,” the memo warned.
It further disclosed that the militias were allegedly “hibernating” in Amako and Igbabo forests between Mkoma and Doka villages, and also in Ikom forest, located a few kilometres from the Yelwata-Udei-Ukohol axis and the Kadarko railway line.
Reacting to the June 13 massacre, Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, confirmed that OPWS troops had been deployed to the area on the day of the attack but were misled by false information that another village was under siege.
The CDS said, “Because of the insider information, on the actual day that it happened, the troops were there.
“There was a fake attack in the other village. When the troops moved in, that is when they came to attack the other one.”
This strategic misdirection, Musa explained, allowed the assailants to carry out the deadly ambush in Yelewata.
Military, MACBAN Met Weeks Before Massacre
In the same month that the DSS raised its concerns, Commander Moses Gara convened a high-level meeting with the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and other stakeholders in Makurdi to address the persistent security threats in the region.
According to Major Lawal Osabo, Acting Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, the May 28 meeting discussed key issues, including farmer-herder conflicts, retaliatory attacks, cattle rustling, and kidnappings.
“The concerns raised during the engagement would be tabled before the state government and relevant security agencies,” Osabo noted.
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