The Universal Reformed Christian Church, widely known as Nongu u Kristu u i Ser u sha Tar (NKST), has firmly rejected the Federal Government’s proposed pilot ranching initiative in Benue State, revealing that prolonged violent attacks by armed herders have claimed the lives of 5,987 of its members and left 753 of its worship centres destroyed.
The church’s position was communicated in an official statement released by the General Secretary of the NKST Synod Executive Committee, Rev. T.A. Targba, who argued that Benue State should not be made a testing ground for policies involving land allocation to an industry central to the state’s ongoing security crisis.
Describing the proposed policy as an insensitive approach to an agonizing humanitarian tragedy, Rev. Targba questioned the rationale behind selecting a traumatized population for a land-based government trial.
“Benue is not merely a geographical space available for government experimentation,” Rev. Targba stated. “Why should a state whose people have suffered displacement and destruction because of violent conflict now be selected as a laboratory for a policy involving land allocation for the same livestock economy that has been at the center of these conflicts? The answer cannot be merely administrative. The people of Benue deserve to be heard.”
“NKST Church is not speaking from a distance,” the statement added. “We speak as a Church whose members and institutions have been directly and severely affected by the prolonged violence across Benue and neighboring states.”
The church urged the Federal Government to immediately suspend the pilot ranching framework and pivot toward addressing the protracted displacement crisis across the state, where thousands of indigenous farming families have resided in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps for nearly two decades.
The NKST leadership insisted that any land allocated for agricultural reforms must not encroach on territories from which indigenous communities were violently expelled.
“NKST Church therefore asks that the Federal Government prioritize the restoration and resettlement of displaced communities as the foundation of any government intervention in Benue State,” Rev. Targba declared. “No ranching programme should be established on lands from which indigenous communities were violently displaced.”
To facilitate a sustainable resolution, the church called on the authorities to rebuild essential social infrastructure destroyed during the violence, including residential homes, schools, medical facilities, markets, roads, civic infrastructure, and places of worship.
“NKST remains committed to peace, justice, and reconciliation, but genuine restoration must come before any new land-based policy,” Rev. Targba noted, adding that the church remains open to structured dialogue with the Federal Government, the Benue State Government, traditional authorities, and civil society.
Benue State, often referred to as Nigeria’s breadbasket due to its intensive agricultural output, has served as the central flashpoint in the multi-decade conflict between agrarian communities and nomadic pastoralists over land access, water resources, and grazing routes.
In 2017, the Benue State Government enacted the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law to curb open herding, a move that stirred intense political friction between local authorities and livestock associations. While the Federal Government has introduced various interventions—including the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) and regional ranching proposals—local stakeholders and faith-based groups have frequently expressed skepticism, citing unaddressed land dispossessions and security lapses.
The NKST Church, founded in 1911 with a strong foothold across the Middle Belt, maintains an extensive network of rural mission schools, hospitals, and congregations across Benue and neighboring states, making it one of the most prominent institutional voices on the crisis.
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