Gunmen kill at the least 50 in assaults on village in Nigeria

Gunmen have killed at the least 50 individuals throughout two assaults on a village in north-central Nigeria, authorities stated Thursday.

Ruben Bako, chairman of the Otukpo native authorities the place the bloodbath occurred, stated that gunmen killed 47 individuals on Wednesday in Umogidi village in Benue state. A day earlier, three different individuals had been slain in the identical place, he stated.

Anene Sewuese with Benue state police confirmed that assault and stated that the assailants had open hearth at a market. Nonetheless, Sewuese put the dying toll at eight individuals, together with a police officer.

The motive of the assaults was not instantly clear, although authorities stated they imagine each assaults have been related. Whereas there was no declare of duty, authorities stated suspicion fell on native herdsmen, who’ve clashed previously with farmers over land disputes in north-central Nigeria.

The farmers accuse the herders, largely of Fulani origin, of grazing their livestock on their farms and destroying their produce. The herders insist that the lands are grazing routes that have been first backed by legislation in 1965, 5 years after the nation gained its independence.

Benue state, which is known as “Nigeria’s meals basket” due to its bountiful harvests, is likely one of the hardest hit within the decades-long clashes between agrarian communities and nomadic cattle herders throughout Nigeria’s northwest and central areas.

Agricultural yields from the state have decreased over time due to these frequent clashes, additional squeezing households in a area the place many are poor and hungry.