Chief Michael Aondoakaa, former Minister of Justice, has made an appeal to the United States and current U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) to redirect their counter-terrorism toward Benue State.
After the Christmas Day U.S. Tomahawk strikes on ISIS camps in Sokoto, Aondoakaa claims that Benue faces more existential threats from armed groups masquerading as herders.
He described the situation as a total occupation of ancestral lands, where communities are being systematically sacked from their homes and livelihoods destroyed.
There are terrorists in Benue State. The US air strikes should have started here before going to Sokoto. The air strikes are long overdue in Benue – Michael Aondoakaa (SAN)
This appeal follows a massacre in Yelwata, Benue State, in mid-2025, where over 200 people were killed in a single day.
Aondoakaa argued that while the U.S. targeted the Northwest on Christmas, the real terrorists have been allowed to fester in Benue for too long.
According to the former AGF, several Local Government Areas in Benue are currently under the administrative and physical control of armed bandits.
Aondoakaa criticized the current state government for insensitivity, calling on the United States to launch a strike in order to flush out criminal elements and to make the State a safe haven.
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