Latest news with #HyacinthAlia
Boston Globe
27-05-2025
- Boston Globe
Gunmen killed at least 20 people in north-central Nigeria over the weekend, local authorities say
Benue state police spokesperson Anene Sewuese confirmed to The Associated Press that a weekend attack took place in Gwer West, but said only four people were killed, including a police officer who was responding to the raid. Nigerian police authorities often provide lower death tolls than local authorities and witnesses when reporting on attacks. Advertisement While it remains unclear who was responsible for the killings, such attacks are common in Nigeria's northern region where local herders and farmers often clash over limited access to land and water. The farmers accuse the herders, mostly of Fulani origin, of grazing their livestock on their farms and destroying their produce. The herders insist that the lands are grazing routes that were first backed by law in 1965, five years after the country gained its independence. The governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia, called the attack a 'heinous act' and 'a stark reminder of the pervasive violence and lawlessness' that have plagued the region in recent times in a statement on Sunday. Last month, gunmen, believed to be herders, killed at least 40 people in north-central Nigeria. Advertisement
Al Arabiya
27-05-2025
- General
- Al Arabiya
At least 42 killed in weekend attacks in Nigeria's Benue state: Local official
At least 42 people were shot dead by suspected herders in a series of weekend attacks across Gwer West district in Nigeria's central Benue state, a local official said on Tuesday. Thirty-two bodies were recovered from Sunday's assaults on the Ahume and Aondona villages, while 10 more were killed in a separate attack on the villages of Tyolaha and Tse-Ubiam on Saturday, said Victor Omnin, chairman of the Gwer West local government. 'It's a pathetic situation. As we speak, we are still recovering corpses,' Omnin told journalists. Benue is in Nigeria's Middle Belt, a region where the majority Muslim North meets the largely Christian South. The region faces competition over land use, with conflicts between herders, who seek grazing land for their cattle, and farmers, who need arable land for cultivation. These tensions are often worsened by overlapping ethnic and religious divisions. Benue Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia's office said a Catholic priest was also shot in the area by the assailants, and is in critical but stable condition.
Muscat Daily
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Muscat Daily
Nigeria: Death toll rises sharply in attacks in Benue state
Benue, Nigeria – The death toll in attacks in Benue state in central Nigeria has risen to 56. Benue state Governor Hyacinth Alia cited the figure on Saturday while visiting two villages that were attacked by gunmen on Thursday night 17 April, 2025, into Friday. Police had earlier said 17 people were killed. The governor said there was the possibility of the figure increasing because the search was still ongoing. Attacks in Nigeria's Middle Belt This is the latest flare-up of intercommunal violence to hit central Nigeria, known as the Middle Belt, in recent weeks. In a separate incident earlier in the week, 11 people were killed by armed attackers in the Otukpo area of Benue. In nearby north central Plateau state, two attacks in under two weeks left more than 100 people dead. Homes were razed and looted, according to Amnesty International, and hundreds of people were displaced. Herder, farmer clashes on the rise Governor Alia blamed the attacks in Benue State's Ukum and Logo local government areas on 'suspected herdsmen'. Clashes between the nomadic cattle herders and settled farmers over land use have become increasingly common in central Nigeria. The attacks often take on a religious dimension; farmers are often Christian and the herders mostly Muslim Fulani. Overgrazing, drought, and desertification, which are worsened by climate change, have made large areas of Nigeria's north unproductive. This drives the herders to seek grazing lands in the country's more fertile south. The resulting land disputes often descend into deadly violence, especially in rural areas where law enforcement is largely absent. Amnesty International has sharply criticised the Nigerian government of President Bola Tinubu for failing to stem the violence and leaving communities 'at the mercy of rampaging gunmen'. DW
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gunmen kill at least 56 people in central Nigeria
Attacks believed to have been carried out by nomadic cattle herders killed at least 56 people in central Nigeria in one night, the Benue state governor's office said Saturday. Competition over land use has long been a source of tension between largely Muslim pastoralists and largely Christian farmers. Gunmen killed at least 56 people earlier this week in central Nigeria's Benue state, the governor's office said Saturday, sharply revising a previous toll of 17. Clashes between nomadic cattle herders and farmers over land use are common in central Nigeria. Governor Hyacinth Alia had earlier blamed the attacks in the Ukum and Logo local government areas on "suspected herdsmen". With many herders belonging to the Muslim Fulani ethnic group, and many farmers Christian, the attacks in Nigeria's so-called Middle Belt often take on a religious or ethnic dimension. Two attacks by unidentified gunmen earlier this month in neighbouring Plateau state left more than 100 people dead. "The death toll has jumped to 56 from the attacks as at the last count," Solomon Iorpev, the governor's media advisor, told AFP following Alia's visit to the scene. That figure could rise as search-and-rescue operations continue, he added. The attacks happened Thursday night into Friday, sparking the deployment of security forces. The government-owned News Agency of Nigeria reported over the weekend that the country's defence minister was visiting Plateau state. Read more on FRANCE 24 EnglishRead also:Nigeria's northern states face blackout after jihadist vandalismBoko Haram and ISWAP are 'on their last legs', Nigerian information minister says
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nigeria: Death toll rises sharply in attacks in Benue state
The death toll in attacks in Benue state in central Nigeria has risen to 56. Benue state Governor Hyacinth Alia cited the figure Saturday while visiting two villages that were attacked by gunmen on Thursday night 17 April, 2025, into Friday. Today, I visited the grieving communities of Ukum and Logo LGAs where our people have fallen victim to senseless and barbaric attacks by suspected herdsmen. As of this moment, we mourn the loss of 56 innocent souls: fathers, mothers, children, cut down in cold blood. — Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia (@HyacinthAlia) April 19, 2025 Police had earlier said 17 people were killed. The governor said there was the possibility of the figure increasing because the search was still ongoing. This is the latest flare-up of intercommunal violence to hit central Nigeria, known as the Middle Belt, in recent weeks. In a separate incident earlier in the week, 11 people were killed by armed attackers in the Otukpo area of Benue. In nearby north central Plateau state, two attacks in under two weeks left more than 100 people dead. Homes were razed and looted, according to Amnesty International, and hundreds of people were displaced. Governor Alia blamed the attacks in Benue State's Ukum and Logo local government areas on "suspected herdsmen." Clashes between the nomadic cattle herders and settled farmers over land use have become increasingly common in central Nigeria. The attacks often take on a religious dimension; farmers are often Christian and the herders mostly Muslim Fulani. Overgrazing, drought, and desertification, which are worsened by climate change, have made large areas of Nigeria's north unproductive. This drives the herders to seek grazing lands in the country's more fertile south. The resulting land disputes often descend into deadly violence, especially in rural areas where law enforcement is largely absent. Amnesty International has sharply criticized the Nigerian government of President Bola Tinubu for failing to stem the violence and leaving communities "at the mercy of rampaging gunmen." Edited by: Louis Oelofse
