Nigeria's central region grapples with recurring violence
Massacres, like the Yelewata attack, highlight premeditated violence and displacement fears amid failed security measures.
Government efforts, including security deployment and peace committees, lack effectiveness, requiring political and communal resolutions.
For several months, Nigeria's central state of Benue state has been the scene of a series of deadly attacks pitting Muslim Fulani herders against mainly Christian farmers.
On Friday, gunmen killed more than 100 villagers in an overnight attack in Benue's Yelewata village, where the assailants also set houses ablaze.
The killings are the latest in Nigeria's north-central region, which has seen a surge in violence amid clashes between Muslim Fulani herders and mostly Christian farmers competing for land and resources.
Benue and nearby Plateau state are located on the dividing line between Nigeria's mostly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south, which have historically been a flashpoint for intercommunal violence.
In the face of the latest massacre, Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday visited Benue, the first presidential visit forced by violence, according to the state governor.
Here is what we know about the violence.
What is happening?
Benue State, in central Nigeria, is regularly targeted by deadly attacks attributed to armed men, presumed to be Fulani herders. The raids are typically staged at night.
Amnesty International has tallied 6 896 people killed over the last two years in the state.
Since January, several localities - including Yelewata, Gwer West and Ankpali - have been targeted, leaving hundreds dead.
The latest attack prompted strong reactions, including street protests that police put down using teargas.
"This crisis has gone on too long," said George Akume, a former Benue state governor and a current Nigerian government secretary.
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"No one deserves to live in fear or uncertainty in their own homeland. This really hurts."
Pope Leo XIV condemned the killings as a "terrible massacre" in which mostly displaced civilians were murdered with "extreme cruelty".
Yelewata community leader David Tarbo said the local communities are traumatised and have lost confidence in the security forces.
He told AFP:
People are afraid. The security on the ground no longer inspires confidence. Many have fled, and only a few remain.
Some families fleeing recurring attacks in the region arrived in Yelewata on the night of the assault seeking refuge, only to be killed shortly afterwards, he said.
What triggers the violence
Two weeks earlier, at least 25 people were bludgeoned to death in attacks in separate raids on two villages in the state.
Benue, one of Nigeria's biggest food-producing states, is located in the so-called Middle Belt, a religiously mixed region where such disputes often take on a sectarian and ethnic dimension.
Elif Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images
Moreover, the impact of climate change and human expansion is pushing herders away from the northwestern and northeastern regions toward the north-central zone, sparking deadly competition for increasingly limited space.
Benue state governor Hyacinth Alia told Tinubu on Wednesday that the attacks appeared premeditated.
The attacks have "persisted for well over a decade," he said, causing locals to believe that it is a "calculated attempt targeted at annihilating us, taking over our ancestral homes".
What is the government doing to curb the violence?
Tinubu has directed security forces to act decisively, arrest perpetrators, and prosecute them. During his visit to Benue, he also recommended setting up a peace committee comprising traditional chiefs.
However, residents and analysts say that past deployments of security forces have done little to quell the resurgence of violence.
Security analyst Timothy Avele said:
It has become clear that the security agencies and the military will not be able to do it alone.
Mark Gbillah, a former House of Representative member of Benue State, said attackers have not encountered any resistance, 'so they are being emboldened' to continue killing.
He suggested more security forces deployments, 'and most importantly, the governor needs to now make sure the people can defend themselves'.
However, Tinubu and the chief of defence staff, Christopher Musa, have suggested that military intervention alone cannot solve the recurring violence.
"Most of it is a political solution that needs to come into it because it is not what the military can solve," Musa said in Makurdi.
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