Impacts of Herdsmen Attacks on the Religious Worship and Activities of Apa Local Government Area, Benue State

Abstract

This paper examined the impacts of herdsmen attacks on religious worship and activities of Apa Local Government Area of Benue State. The research aimed at considering the attacks of herdsmen on religious worship and the disruption of other activities in Apa. Historically, herdsmen have been very friendly with farmers and host communities in Apa, but today, the reserve is the case, as they have become a source of misery and worries. Communities and religious worship places are usually their targets and these have left much to be desired in the local communities. Over two decades now, records of herdsmen attacking people in churches, wounding, maiming, and killing in Benue State, have formed headlines of the major national dailies and other news outlets in Nigeria. The work adopted descriptive and analytical methods, while data were elicited from both primary and secondary sources, to address the issues raised. The findings revealed that herdsmen attacks were caused as result of struggle for meager resources such as water and farmland, the Islamization agenda and conspiracies. These have led to the destruction of farm crops, raping, kidnapping, land trespass, lack of respect for host communities, loss of lives, destruction of religious worship places, displacement of people, and homelessness. The work recommended that the Church should encourage dialogue, peace mediation and reconciliation, and intensify prayers to end the menace. On the other hand, security agents should work with the community leaders in securing the local communities. They should step up actions in disarming herdsmen with firearm and be bold to prosecute culprits and discourage violence. This research will be of immense relevance to religious institutions, farmers, herdsmen, Benue State, Nigeria, and Africa as a whole.

Keywords: Herdsmen, attack, religion, worship, Apa.