From October 22 to 24, 2001, Nigerian army soldiers killed more than two hundred unarmed civilians and destroyed homes, shops, public buildings and other property in more than seven towns and villages in Benue State, in central-eastern Nigeria. The attacks were part of a well planned military operation, carried out in reprisal for the killing of nineteen soldiers in the area two weeks earlier, which was attributed to members of the Tiv ethnic group. Those who died at the hands of the military were victims of collective punishment, targeted simply because they belonged to the same ethnic group. The government's failure to condemn or investigate the killings in Benue amounts to an encouragement for the military to continue such violent attacks with impunity.

Released on April 1, Military Revenge in Benue: A Population Under Attack documents the Nigerian military's extrajudicial execution of more than two hundred unarmed civilians and destruction of property. Human Rights Watch also criticized the public silence of foreign governments in the aftermath of the Benue massacres, pointing in particular to the unexercised influence of the United States and the United Kingdom. The report was circulated widely within Nigeria and received widespread coverage there, landing front-page stories in all the main newspapers. Nigeria's Minister of Information personally reacted to the report in a BBC interview. Human Rights Watch met with diplomats from the United States and the United Kingdom to discuss our findings and recommendations.

On April 19, Human Rights Watch wrote to President Obasanjo in response to recent statements he made to the media, in which he dismissed Human Rights Watch's report on the killings in Benue.