Jos Plateau – Gunmen Wednesday killed at least 15 people and injured several others, according to a security report and local sources, in the latest case of violence plaguing central Nigeria’s Benue state.
Benue state is part of Nigeria’s so-called Middle Belt region, which has seen clashes between farmers and herders over land and natural resources, as well as kidnapping for ransom by armed criminals known locally as “bandits”.
A security report prepared for the United Nations and seen by AFP on Wednesday said the “suspected armed herders” raided Sai village in the Mbarji district of Katsina-Ala local government area around 2:00 am (0100 GMT) and “killed over 15 residents and injured several others”.
Mbarji district leaders said in a statement that “not fewer than 15 persons” were killed and that women and children were among those injured.
A resident of Sai, Joseph Hir, told AFP that the attackers swept into the village when “we were sleeping”.
But the local administrator of Katsina-Ala local government Justine Shaku gave a lower toll.
“There was an attack on my people. Six people died and 13 others have been injured,” Shaku told AFP.
The security report suggested the attack may have been retaliation for the June 26 killing of Risku Muhammad, the Benue state leader of the Miyetti Allah herders’ group, and one other in Otukpo district.
Clashes between nomadic cattle herders and farmers over land use are common in central Nigeria.
With many herders belonging to the Muslim Fulani ethnic group, and many farmers being Christian, the attacks often strike across religious and ethnic lines.
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Source: AFP
