PRESS RELEASE

Edo Killings: Nigerian Governments and Ruling Elites Must Be Held Responsible

The Movement for a Socialist Alternative (MSA) strongly condemns the brutal killing of 16 travellers in Uromi, Edo State. This barbaric mob attack is reprehensible—no individual, whether a criminal or not, should face such extrajudicial execution, regardless of their location in the North or South. However, we in the MSA firmly place the root cause of this tragedy in the hands of Nigeria’s corrupt ruling elites, both past and present, who have consistently failed to address the core challenges confronting the working masses.

According to reports, the victims were suspected to be kidnappers or herders by local vigilante groups, a concern widely raised by communities in Edo and several other states. While these vigilantes were supposed to hand over the suspects to the police for due process, they instead took the law into their own hands—an alarming trend that has become widespread due to the deep-seated distrust and failure of the police and the state institutions to effectively respond to the complains of the menace of kidnappers and herders. Indeed, it is this failure that led to the formation of Vigilante groups as an act of self-protection and defense against these attacks on the communities and farms.

Painfully, the Nigerian ruling elites have long been aware of the farmers-herders crisis but have failed to implement effective solutions. This crisis has led to the deaths of countless farmers and citizens over the years. A report by SBM Intelligence, a research and consulting firm, published by The Guardian (guardian.ng), reveals that 542 civilians have lost their lives in farmer-herder conflicts since 2019, while no fewer than 2.2 million people have been displaced. Despite numerous similar reports, the government has yet to take concrete steps to tackle this menace.

A major factor fueling this crisis is desertification in the northern regions, forcing herders southward in search of grazing land. This migration has resulted in frequent clashes as cattle destroy farmlands, exacerbating tensions between farmers and herders. Instead of prioritizing a sustainable solution to this problem, the Tinubu-led regime has remained preoccupied with policies that further impoverish the masses under the guise of revenue generation, rather than utilizing Nigeria’s vast resources for the benefit of its people to develop the means of production, and generating millions of jobs in all sectors of the economy.

For nearly two years, the current Tinubu regime has failed to address any of the nation’s pressing challenges. Instead, it has worsened economic conditions, fueling high inflation, widespread insecurity, and mass poverty. Having promised to improve upon the disastrous economic performance of the Buhari administration, this government has, in reality, performed even worse.

The government and the Nigerian police force only appear active when cracking down on peaceful protesters who dare to speak out against the suffering inflicted by its policies. The country is currently experiencing an unprecedented rise in the cost of living, with food prices skyrocketing daily. This, too, is directly linked to the ongoing farmer-herder crisis, which has severely disrupted food production and availability.

For years, the middle-belt region—including Benue, Plateau, and Nasarawa states—has been at the epicenter of these violent conflicts, with little to no meaningful intervention from the government. Now, the crisis is escalating and spreading southward, leading to further loss of lives across different parts of the country. These developments highlight the ruling elite’s utter indifference to the plight of ordinary Nigerians, as long as the crisis does not directly impact their personal interests.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s security agencies remain overwhelmed by poor funding, inadequate welfare, and insufficient manpower. Rather than being deployed to protect the masses, the few available police officers are assigned to politicians and VIPs, leaving ordinary citizens vulnerable.

However, the MSA also condemns the threat of reprisal attacks on southerns in Northern states coming from groups of individuals and youth. This will only further divide the working masses against themselves, instead of building the necessary working class unity that is necessary to take on the Tinubu regime and the various wings of the ruling class, as step forward to dismantling capitalism and its unending greed for profit as oppose to meeting the needs of the working masses. 

Only a well-organized working-class movement can push for real solutions to these fundamental challenges. Labour unions, in particular, must take an active role in mobilizing workers to seek political office, challenging the corrupt neoliberal regimes that prioritize profit over the welfare of the people. The working class must recognize that capitalist policies are at the heart of this crisis. A government led by the working people, committed to nationalizing the economy under democratic workers’ control and management, is the only viable solution to ending this systemic crisis and ensuring social justice for all.

Signed

Aj. Dagga Tolar

General Secretary MSA.

08034513073.