Situation report: Benue State
State.
| Level Extreme |
Coordinates 7°18′04″N 8°48′43″E 7.3010, 8.8120 |
Covers 23 LGAs |
Report date 2026-09-28 |
Map: LGAs shaded by twelve-month ACLED intensity (2025-10 to 2026-09); black outline = this state; dashed = state lines; squares = military installations (town level).
Conflict intensity, last twelve months (ACLED)
| Political-violence events | 342 |
| Deaths in those events | 527 |
| Attacks on civilians | 214 |
| Civilians killed | 355 |
| LGAs at extreme | 2 |
| LGAs at high | 12 |
| LGAs at elevated | 5 |
Where it concentrates
| LGA | Level | Civ. killed | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oturkpo | Extreme | 58 | rising |
| Apa | Extreme | 50 | rising |
| Kwande | High | 41 | steady |
| Guma | High | 34 | falling |
| Katsina-Ala | High | 23 | steady |
| Gwer East | High | 22 | rising |
| Gwer West | High | 19 | steady |
| Logo | High | 18 | steady |
| Ukum | High | 18 | steady |
| Makurdi | High | 17 | falling |
| Ohimini | High | 16 | rising |
| Agatu | High | 12 | falling |
| Ado | High | 7 | rising |
| Buruku | High | 7 | rising |
| Okpokwu | Elevated | 4 | rising |
How it developed
Archive record
4 incidents in the Dustline archive fall here, with 11 deaths recorded.
| Date | Place | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-18 | Ohimini, Benue | Police and joint security forces engage kidnappers in gun battle, rescue 8 hostages in Ohimini, Benue |
| 2026-07-27 | Agatu, Benue | Operation Whirl Stroke repels armed militia assault on riverine community in Agatu |
| 2026-02-27 | Gwer West, Benue | Troops neutralize two highway bandits along Naka-Makurdi route in Gwer West |
| 2018-01-09 | Ngala, Benue | ISWAP and Nigerian security forces — Gamboru, Ngala, Benue (2018-01-09) |
Military installations within 150 km
| Tactical Air Command / NAF Base Makurdi | Makurdi | 57 km |
Advisories and named areas
No US Level 4 advisory state here.
Named danger areas: Benue valley (Guma–Agatu–Logo)
Limits
- ACLED counts recorded events. Rural violence is under-reported everywhere, and more so where journalists cannot go.
- Levels summarise twelve months; a road can change within days. Current advisories and local security briefings outrank this report.
Sources: Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), www.acleddata.com — aggregates via HDX, as of 25 September 2026. Boundaries: OCHA COD-AB Nigeria (CC BY-IGO). Map base: Natural Earth (public domain), naturalearthdata.com; state boundaries OCHA COD-AB Nigeria (CC BY-IGO). Archive: Dustline snapshot of dustlinemap.online, 22 September 2026. Advisory: US Department of State.