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Battered By banditry, hard-hit by hunger: Benue, Nigeria’s food basket, battles malnutrition

Benue, a state in North Central Nigeria, is a major hub of food production in the country. The state is acclaimed to be the ‘Food Basket of the Nation.’ In recent years, however, its vast farming communities have been under siege by bandits, with their inhabitants forced into either strange communities or Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps. The major casualties of this untamed criminality are vulnerable children, women and the aged who face hunger and starvation, leading to severe acute malnutrition. To understand the dangerous dynamics of banditry on the ‘Food Basket’, Adedokun Theophilus travelled through some rural communities – Gwer West, Katsina-Ala, Okpokwu and Logo local government areas of the state – and in the process unravelled a food crisis imperilling children in vulnerable communities.

IT was a scorching Saturday afternoon in July in Naka village of Benue State. Alhaji Sonte, a 15-year-old lad with a frail frame, was scavenging for food and picking remnants of maize mixed with sand and chaff in the front of a stall.
In haste, he picked, packed and moved from stall to stall. This has been his daily routine for survival.

Sonte is one of the children pushed to leave their homes and displaced due to bandits’ attack on Mbapupuu, a rural community in Benue. Since then, things have fallen apart.

Although Sonte intends to become a soldier, he is worried that hunger has whittled down his dream. He has a stunted growth, triggered by the absence of certain nutritional components in his food. Unbothered about his height, Sonte said, “If I had been eating nutritious food, I would have been fat, hale and healthy.”

Although there is an unparalleled food crisis being experienced globally, according to Save the Children (SC), child malnutrition instigated by banditry and insecurity constitutes a grave threat to the survival and existence of children in Benue State, putting them in unimaginable health challenges and severely stunted growth. Only little efforts are being made to address this issue by the state government.

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Studies say nutritional deficiency in the early stage of children’s development produces morphological changes and limits their capacity to become part of the competitive world.

Stunting is a result of chronic or recurrent undernutrition and it holds children back from actualising their physical and cognitive potential, said the World Health Organisation (WHO), noting that it was prevalent in poor socioeconomic conditions. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) corroborated this by putting the number of Nigerian children with severe acute malnutrition at two million. It further stated that Nigeria is a country with the second-highest burdened nation with stunted children globally.

Laborious lives: From bountiful to banditry, to begging

Multiple interviews show that many rural farming communities have been turned into insecurity hotspots and banditry blankets, fuelling child malnutrition. Many villages have become mere touchstones and connection to the past lives of farmers and their bountiful harvests.

Relevant authorities failed to protect farmers, save their crops and draw back the cumulative assets of their productive agricultural products for investment and development purpose.

Life bites hard, but hunger bites harder 

Boniface Anyebe had lived as a successful farmer until tragedy struck Igama Village in Edumoga District of Okpokwu LGA in 2022. That day, hundreds of bandits invaded his village, gruesomely murdered his son, burnt down his house, destroyed farmlands, and carted away his harvests.

His son, the family’s breadwinner as Boniface aged, was among the resistant fighters killed when villagers attempted to repel the attack on Igama.

Since then, the octogenarian has lived with a scar of loss and heavy weight of responsibility to cater for the welfare of his seven grandchildren. Sadly, things got tougher for Boniface as he is now forced to engage in laborious activities to make ends meet. Boniface has now been relegated to a dependent.

“It is not certain that you must eat once or twice in a day,” he said dejectedly, conscious of the cost-of-living crisis. This, coupled with the first-hand terror experienced by relatives, has made him less entitled.

Boniface’s grand daughter, Christiana Anyebe, said that feeding was not certain every day. Food came by luck, and other times, the 16-year-old girl, with her younger siblings, would stay two days without eating.

The watermarks of hunger and malnourishment are written in stylised alphabets of the bony and wrinkled skins of these children yet they hava not benefited from any palliative from the state government.

For Kate Amodu, though 17 years, she has already had her fill of adult experience. A native of Entekpa ward in Otukpo LGA, she is one of the many young people separated and displaced by banditry. Since the invasion of her village, her diet has changed and feeding has become more difficult because her parents are staying far away.

Her fight to win the battle against hunger has proved abortive. It persists. Yet Kate has returned to school, but this allows her less time to engage in menial work and raise a stipend for her sustenance. “We don’t have farmland here in Otukpo,” she said as the tired bags around her eyes pumped.

Hidden Hunger: ‘Food Everywhere but Nothing to Eat’

Tamen Terungwa is a boy, naïve and down-to-earth, but with the survival instincts of a grown man. He has seen all that life has in stock, except death. His narrative was not different from other tales of violence and invasion. After bandits attacked Mbabuande village in Gwer West Local Government Area, he became indifferent to education. The idea of returning to school no longer crosses his mind as he begs to feed.

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When the reporter met Tamen, he dejectedly explained that he had not had any meal for the day because he did not beg. “We normally go to the market square and beg for food but I haven’t gone to the market to beg,” the little boy said.

Being the breadwinner of a large family at a time when inflation has risen to its peak is tough. Elaigwu John is the head of a family of eleven. He has commercially tilled land and cultivated crops, which he had used to fend for his family and meet their demands. But his source of livelihood collapsed when Fulani bandits attacked his village, Ewule Entekpa. Since then, fulfilling his fatherly responsibilities has become difficult.

Sad that he could no longer afford to feed his children and farm, he decried that eating non-nutritional food has become a paramount diet for his children. “Now, we don’t have sufficient food and if we are lucky, we sometimes eat once or twice. We now eat the last product that comes out from cassava, not garri (describing a sponge chaff),” he said as his dawdling voice heralded an accustomed sign of misery.

Blessing Tarka is two years and some months old. She was a lively girl until the day she fell and could no longer walk. Like others, her mother, Mercy Tarka, a native of Katsina-Ala LGA, was dislocated from her community by bandits and this denied the little girl access to certain nutrients that could aid her growth. Her mother has been sad and efforts made through a series of visits to traditional healers have proven abortive. She, however, hoped that her daughter would walk again one day.

Mercy tried to keep her head above water in the battle against malnutrition through loans, begging, and food remnants. But her daughter has continued to cry due to hunger. “She stopped walking one day after banditry attacked on our village.”

She now involves her children in processing the garri in their host community to eke out a living.

Displacement, divorced and dislocation fuel child, adult malnutrition 

The faces of adults are also postcards of malnutrition. The lines and wrinkles tell stories beyond wreckages and ruins. It expresses grief, starvation and hunger suffered in silence.

Torto Benjamin, a native of Gbwanga village in Gwer West and father of five, was not only displaced by the incessant attacks of bandits; he had been dislocated from his children. His wife divorced him after everything went south; his children were separated from him and distributed to extended family members who were facing crisis. His family was torn apart and it was as if they never existed.

Noting that he knew what his children could be facing, he lamented that he could not help himself. “When my wife left, she took the children along with her and I understand that she has shared my children among her relatives,” Benjamin said, adding that his own relatives were in the same shoes as he was. “I worry about their survival and what my children eat at this time,” Benjamin said.

Although he struggles to make ends meet as a labourer, he suffers from constant ill-health and finds it difficult affording his medical expenses. Both parents and children are at the receiving end of detrimental, long-term emotional and psychological consequences that may be worse than leaving and separation, say psychologists, while banditry fuels separation and is associated with an elevated risk for subsequent violence.

‘I have reduced the quantity and quality of food that I prepare for my children,” said Christiana Alechenu, a mother of three. Christiana disclosed that the drastic reduction was essential for their survival. She, however, called on the government to provide palliatives so that he can give her kids healthy foods, noting that the support she gets from her host neighbours has been immeasurable.

Adiku Uvernyumbe, an aged woman from Ukum, said that managing to fend for her two daughters has been uneasy. Ukum LGA is in the Sankera area of Benue State worst affected by banditry.

“I collect grains, maize and rice gathered from the ground in the market square,” she explained, stressing that fear after herders’ attack forced her to leave her village, Chito.

The cries of despair are state-wide

Begi Nyangoh, a 55-year-old woman with five children, survived like others. Although she claimed that she got support from the government, she still visited the market square to scavenge for chaff for her family and children. She dreaded the day it might be impossible to get chaff and leftover food in the market – a situation that would worsen their condition. “If there is no way to get crumbs in the market, maybe that is the end or we go on to eat leaves,” she said.

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A traditional ruler in Okpokwu, who pleaded anonymity for fear of retribution from state authorities, expressed sadness over the state of things in his community and the seeming inaction or helplessness of the state government to security challenges. He lamented that the insecurity situation in the area does not only  fuel malnutrition and loss of livelihoods but has forced many to begging due to prevailing situation.

According to Boniface of Igama village, ‘It is a life of mystery to depend on people and providence.”

Since banditry cut off their sources of livelihood, which is predominantly farming, there has been little or no support from the state government. Many families have resigned to fate or sweeping remnants of food in market stalls to feed their wards.

Cost of living crisis

Nigerians have been grappling with the worst cost of living crisis in decades since President Bola Tinubu’s controversial economic reforms started on his asumption on May 29. The nation’s economy is at a boiling point while Nigerians are angry over sporadic inflation. Inflation rate rose to 32.70 percent in  September 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The rising inflation is attributed to insecurity, foreign exchange crunch and high petrol prices.

Benue State witnessed a 34.48 percent increase in food inflation between June 2020 and the same month in 2024.

Ultimately, Benue State’s inflation rate reached 36.89 percent in June, 2024. 

The 2023 Global Hunger Index ranked Nigeria 109th out of the 125 countries with a dearth of data to address and calculate hunger. It stated that Nigeria has a high level of hunger.

Even though another report pointed out that Nigeria, among other countries like Afghanistan, Haiti, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Yemen, as well as Burkina Faso and Mali in the Sahel region, had the highest level of severe hunger in the previous year, it emphasised that conflict and climate change were key drivers of these crises and economic downturns.

Data analysed from a global think tank on security, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), revealed that a total of 2,047 fatalities were recorded between 2020 and 2024 in Benue State. These deaths were caused by organised violence, bandits’ attacks, militias, rebel groups, and identified militias across 145 locations in the state.

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Experts said that the absence of food commodities is the bane of the malnutrition diet crisis, stressing that unsuccessful efforts to curb insecurity – banditry, kidnappings and killings – worsened food production.

Research shows that banditry disrupts commercial activities in Benue State. Apart from the psychological effects of banditry on parents, their economic productivity and income are hindered, evidence from studies shows. It explained that parents experience economic downturns and that it exacerbates unemployment, malnutrition and starvation.

Experts explain that malnutrition is entirely preventable at the community level through the adoption of lipid-based nutrient supplements and fortified cereal products.

A public health physician for the National AIDS and STI Control Programme (NASCP), Reinnet Awoh, said that the state partners with international organisations like UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP), and other local non-governmental organisations to provide immediate food aid to affected families is crucial.

Emphasising that the collaboration would involve distributing food parcels containing essential nutritional ingredients and therapeutic foods for severely malnourished children, Awoh suggested that regular distribution of micronutrient powders like vitamin A supplements and other essential nutrients to children and pregnant women should be introduced in the state.

He said, “The government should deploy mobile health clinics to reach remote and affected areas so it can ensure regular health check-ups, nutritional assessments, and treatment for malnutrition. These clinics can also provide vaccinations and other essential health services.”

Olugbenga Jagun, a dietitian in the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, corroborated Awoh by stressing that government should promote sustainable agricultural practices. He also emphasised the importance of fortification of staple foods with essential nutrients and regular health check-ups to monitor growths and ailments.

Lead researcher of Political Economic Analytics, an Abuja-based think tank, Folarin Olamilekan, suggested that the adoption of people-centred and agriculture-orientated policies would mitigate the hardship faced by Nigerians. “We need policies that would reduce transportation on food commodities, assist farmers on seedling, farm tool and access to markets should be introduced,” he said, emphasising the need for the government to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to salvage the situation.

Cost of violent conflicts

Communal violence cost Nigeria over $12 billion in agricultural productivity during the last third of the 20th century, according to the  Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO). Although a large number of natives have resolved to find shelter and solace across internally displaced camps (IDPs), others have begged and searched for crumbs and spoilt foods. 

Data analysed from the global think tank on security, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), revealed that a total of 2,047 fatalities were recorded between 2020 and 2024 in Benue State. These deaths were caused by organised violence, bandits’ attacks, militias, rebel groups, and identified militias across 145 locations in the state.

 “Addressing malnutrition requires a multifaceted approach,” said Jagun, noting the need to tackle malnutrition from its roots by involving individuals, communities and government.

Governance deficits

With a staggering number of over 283,727 children suffering from stunted growth and malnutrition, the National Demographic and Health Survey report showed how the prevalence of underweight children stood at 13.6 percent in Benue State.

Although the Benue State Government said it prioritises the health and well-being of its citizens, it remains one of the states with the highest rate of under-five with stunted growth.

Benue, in its 2024 fiscal budget, allocated 15 percent of its budget to the development of the health sector. This addresses the teething challenges in the industry in line with the Abuja 2001 Declaration on Health pledge.

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It vowed to strengthen social safety nets, provide support for the most vulnerable members and equally ensure that basic amenities are available for every citizen in the state.

“Our commitment to poverty alleviation extends to rural areas. This budget includes initiatives to improve agricultural productivity, access to healthcare, and educational opportunities in rural communities,” the state said.

Findings showed that the said improvements in the health, education and agricultural sectors have yet to be realised.


“Malnutrition has remained a public health concern in Nigeria, which is also a major cause of death, especially in women and children,” said Priscilla Utoo, the deputy coordinator of Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN). She explained that malnutrition can lead to stunted growth with adverse outcomes such as poor brain and cognitive development, a loss of two or three, poor school performance and diminished productivity in adulthood.

Lamenting that malnutrition has continued to worsen due to the non-approval of the state-formulated Strategic Plan of Action for Nutrition, she noted that the domestication of the National Strategic Plan of Action for Nutrition (NSPAN) has resulted in meagre improvement.

The state government authorised N6.6 billion for the Ministry of Health and Human Services in 2020, findings indicate.

In 2021, over N5.9 billion was allocated to health in the state. By the 2022 and 2023 fiscal years, the state government had projected to expend N11.5 billion and N22.3 billion naira consecutively as its health budgets.

During its budget speech for the 2024 fiscal year, the government approved over N9.4 billion, representing 15 percent of its annual budget, shooting the total approved budget to N65.3 billion in five years.

Sadly, there have been a few releases and cash backing that ought to follow these massive appropriations, year in year out.

According to an analysis of the state’s health sector’s budget performance, N1.7 billion naira was made available in 2020 to tackle health issues, offset staff salaries, finance capital projects, and procure technological supplies. This sum, however, is N4.9 billion less than what was the authorised budget. This indicates that just 25.75 percent of the allotted budget was disbursed. 

Comparably, of the N15.2 billion approved for the sector’s budgetary releases for the state in 2021, a total of N8.5 billion naira was released, representing 55.5 percent of the budget.

In 2022, the state made the largest investment in the health sector within the years of analysis. The released fund, which amounted to N9.4 billion, indicated that the reimbursement was higher than in previous fiscal years. This, however, amounted to 81.7 percent of the authorised spending. 

About N5.07 billion was released in 2023, a pitiful amount in comparison to the amount allocated for the health sector. The amount issued was 22.7 per cent of the total budget, even though the budget covered that year’s personnel, capital, and recurrent expenditures. The total releases throughout the analysed period were N24.8 billion.

Further findings show that 38 percent of the approved budgets for the health sector was used to address the lingering health issues and hunger in the state, according to a critical analysis of the state implementation budget.

Despite these problems and the situation faced by children, policymakers in the state appeared to be lax in their responsibilities and have not been able to map out adequate and comprehensive rural sustainable schemes that can address health challenges.

Experts speak, authorities mute

The weight of the nutritional challenges bedevilling children in insurgency-hit zones is immeasurable. Experts suggest that Benue State should develop and implement a state-specific nutrition policy that outlines clear goals, strategies, and responsibilities for addressing malnutrition. They say the policy should be aligned with national guidelines and international best practices.

Olamilekan, lead researcher of Abuja-based think tank, Pol Eco Analytics, earlier quoted, said the state government needed to prioritise the socio-economic wellness of rural community members.

“It is the responsibility of the government to cater for the health challenges of the people, especially with regard to malnutrition and poor balanced diet that is exposing the indigenes and poor healthy living. These call to question the use of the yearly budget of the state government, not to mention the various federal government interventions in the state,” Olamilekan stated.  

He further explained that there was an urgent need to tackle corruption, embezzlement and revive the economic condition of people in the state.

Reinnet Awoh, public health expert with the National AIDS and STI Control Programme (NASCP), said that public-private partnerships should be embraced to curb food crises and child malnutrition.

Stressing that advocacy for legislation that supports food security, protects agricultural lands, and provides social protection for vulnerable populations is important, Awoh maintained that strong legal frameworks are essential for sustaining long-term interventions.

 “Regularly collecting and analysing data on food security and nutritional status to inform policy decisions and track progress is crucial. This accurate data helps in identifying the most vulnerable groups and areas requiring urgent attention,” Awoh said, adding that tackling malnutrition involves a multi-disciplinary approach that includes immediate food aid, security enhancements to protect and support farming communities, strengthening agricultural policies and community-driven initiative, such as communal gardens and cooperatives to complement government efforts.

A nutritionist, Olugbenga Jagun of the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, however, stressed that economic empowerment, food security initiatives, social protection and thorough engagement of communities could be adopted alongside local policies to effectively mitigate malnutrition among children.

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To ascertain if the Benue State Government has in place plans and programmes towards addressing child malnutrition in conflict-prone zones in the state, a letter was submitted on July, 10 to the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Tersoo Kula. The letter contains a request for an interview and a series of questions regarding the measures put in place to curb insecurity in the state.

The reporter enquired from the governor’s spokesperson the programmes implemented by the state government aimed to address adult and child malnutrition.

The letter further requested documents regarding such programmes. However, at the time of filing this report, the governor’s spokesperson had not responded.

Similarly, a letter submitted on July 9 to the Benue State Emergency Management Agency seeking for its activities and programmes designed towards curbing malnutrition among vulnerable communities and children was not responded to as at press time.

This investigation by National Record is supported by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development, Inclusivity and Accountability project (CMEDIA) with funding support by the MacArthur Foundation.

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