Latest news with #MuslimFulani
France 24
12-05-2025
- France 24
23 killed in multiple attacks by gunmen in central Nigeria, says Red Cross
Gunmen killed 23 people in four separate attacks in central Nigeria 's Benue state, a Red Cross official said Sunday, the latest flare-up of unrest in the region. The attacks happened Saturday night in four villages. Clashes between nomadic cattle herders and farmers over land use are common in central Nigeria. "Reports from the field have confirmed the killings of at least 23 people from different attacks," Red Cross secretary in Benue state Anthony Abah told AFP. Eight people were killed in Ukum, nine in nearby Logo, three each in Guma and Kwande, he said, citing data from the organisation's field disaster officers. Several others were wounded, he added. A police spokeswoman said she was unaware of the attacks. Cephas Kangeh, a retired general manager with a state electricity company who recently relocated to his home village near one of the affected areas told AFP he had heard of three killings, including a couple ambushed while riding a motorcycle which "was taken away by the herdsmen". Chinese operators are mining gold in the area, he said. "The attacks did not take place near the mining sites," said Kangeh. "However, one is puzzled as to why indigenous people are always attacked, maimed... yet there has never been a single case of attack on the Chinese miners who are operating in these areas." Some of the latest attacks were staged in areas previously targeted by attacks slightly over a month ago, which left at least 56 dead. 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 in April in neighbouring Plateau state left more than 100 people dead. Across the wider Middle Belt, including in Benue, land used by farmers and herders is coming under stress from climate change and human expansion, sparking deadly competition for increasingly limited space.
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
Al Jazeera
19-04-2025
- Al Jazeera
Herder-farmer clashes in Nigeria kill at least 17
At least 17 people are reported to have been killed as suspected nomadic cattle herders carried out twin attacks in central Nigeria's Benue State. Police spokesperson Anene Sewuese Catherine said in a statement on Friday that 'a large number of suspected militia had invaded' a region of Benue State overnight. The attack came amid a resurgence of deadly clashes between herders and farmers, a conflict that has killed hundreds over recent years. Security forces were deployed and as the assailants 'were being repelled in the early hours of today, they shot sporadically at unsuspecting farmers' killing five farmers in Benue's Ukum area. Police said a second attack took place in Logo, about 70km from the area of the first incident. 'Unfortunately an unsuspected simultaneous attack was carried out' in a neighbouring locality, where 12 people were killed before police arrived, the police spokesperson said. The attacks came just two days after 11 people were killed in the Otukpo area of Benue, and barely a week after gunmen attacked villages and killed more than 50 people in neighbouring Plateau State. Since 2019, clashes between nomadic cattle herders and farming communities have killed more than 500 people in the region and forced 2.2 million to leave their homes, according to research firm SBM Intelligence. The clashes, mostly between Muslim Fulani herders and Christian farmers from the Berom and Irigwe ethnic groups, are often painted as ethnoreligious. However, analysts have said climate change and scarcity of pastoral land are pitting the farmers and herders against each other, irrespective of faith. The conflict has disrupted food supplies from north-central Nigeria, a significant agricultural area.
