Benue State

The area that is now Benue State was administered by the British as Munshi Province within the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria; in 1918 the province was renamed after its dominant geographical feature, the River Benue. The name of the river is commonly traced to the Tiv expression 'Ber-nor' (river of the hippopotamus).

After independence the territory formed part of the Northern Region and, from 1967, of Benue-Plateau State. Benue State was created on 3 February 1976 by the military government of General Murtala Mohammed, when Nigeria's states were increased from 12 to 19. In August 1991 the largely Igala-speaking western part of the state was excised and merged with parts of Kwara State to form Kogi State.

The state is home mainly to the Tiv, Idoma and Igede peoples, with traditional authority organised through the Tiv and Idoma traditional councils under the Tor Tiv as chairman of the State Council of Chiefs. Cultural traditions such as the Kwagh-hir puppet theatre, Swange dance, the Alekwu ancestral festival of the Idoma and the Igede Agba yam festival are widely known. In recent years parts of the state have been affected by recurrent farmer-herder violence and population displacement.