Banditry and Socio-Economic Activities in Rural Communities of Benue State

Banditry has become the second source of human casualty in Nigeria after terrorism. There is hardly a day free of banditry attacks, especially in the Northern part of the country. Their operation techniques are becoming more diversified and daring. The negative consequences on the economic lives of Nigeria are becoming very difficult to bear. The work examined the extent to which banditry activities have affected rural development in Benue State. The specific objectives included verifying the nature of banditry activities in Benue State, identifying rural communities with the worse experience of banditry activities, examining the consequences of banditry activities on the socio-economic activities of rural areas in Benue State, and suggesting ways through which banditry activities can be controlled in the state. Employing Robert Park’s systemic conflict model, the work made use of secondary sources of information, and drew data from periodic materials, the mass media, library materials and security reports. The information gathered revealed that banditry is a reality in rural communities of Benue State. It manifest its operations in kidnapping, killing, invasion and displacement, extortions, violence and all forms of criminalities. The Local Government Area mostly affected include Katsina/Ala, Gwer-west, Agatu, Otokpo Kwande, Ukum, Logo, Shititle, Guma, and Ogbokpo. Banditry activities brought about disruption in socio-economic activities in these areas including marriage and burial ceremonies, markets, farming activities and educational activities. To control this situation, the study recommended among others, collaboration between rural dwellers, security agents and politicians for intentional and calculated fight against bandits and their syndicates.