The mood of Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State was that of a man in great pain. The recurrent conflict between Tiv communities and Fulani herdsmen is giving the governor grey hairs. He said he has tried to address the issue by setting up committees but nothing has come out of it. “When you think that the crisis is diminishing, something will happen and the crisis will erupt again. Now, because the communal crises are happening in Benue State, the Fulanis too ran to Nassarawa State and launched fresh attacks on Nasarawa people.”
On December 26, popularly known in Christendom as Boxing Day, a day set aside for exchange of gifts by friends and well wishers, suspected Fulani herdsmen invaded Demena, a village in Taraba State and left in their trail tears and blood. Before this time, there have been series of attacks and reprisal attacks by the herdsmen and the Tiv over land grazing. Scores of people and property worth several millions of naira are destroyed each time such crisis occurs. 
The attack on Tiv communities by Fulani herdsmen became more ferocious in 2010. The fighting has forced hundreds of residents to flee their ancestral homes to seek safety elsewhere. This has created humanitarian problems as displaced Tiv farmers are now taking refuge in schools and open spaces in other villages.
 In Nasarawa State, displaced people who do not have anyone to run to are now taking refuge at the community school in Kadaroko. A member representing Katsina-Ala west in the Benue House of Assembly, Hon. Aondowase Jator, said displaced people from Taraba State are taking refuge under harsh conditions in Katsina-Ala, Gbishi, Tor-Donga and other surrounding villages. 
Sometime in November last year, no fewer than 50 people lost their lives in the crisis in Nasarawa State. The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, said more than 5,000 people were displaced following the outbreak of the crisis that erupted between Tiv farmers and the Fulani in Doma and Keana local government areas of the state. 
Makurdi, the capital of Benue State, was not spared of the crisis when recently scores of people died following fighting between Tiv and Fulani herdsmen in Mbalagh ward, Makurdi local government area. One of the victims, Simeon Udo said he lost everything in the violence that erupted in his village of tse-Gboughul.
 
Government efforts to end the crisis have not yielded any positive result. Last year, Governor Suswam met with his Nasarawa State counterpart, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura in an effort to end the fighting between the Tiv and Fulani people. A joint committee was set up by the two states to tackle the problem.
Fulani leaders have proposed to the government to provide them with grazing reserves to tend their cattle and other social amenities as was the case during colonial period, when a policy was introduced to carve out grazing reserves for cattle rearers. Bem Kurugh, a farmer wants the government to revisit the policy if it seriously considers resolving the Tiv/Fulani crisis.
The crisis was believed to have persisted despite government’s efforts to curb it due to the failure to issue white papers to that effect. This is the view shared by the Tor Tiv, Dr. Alfred Torkula, who blamed the continued outbreak of violence between Tiv and Fulani on the delay in releasing the report of a committee set up by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III to find a lasting solution to the Tiv/Fulani unrest. 

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