Latest news with #NigeriaViolence
BBC News
17-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Benue killings: Timeline of attacks wey don lead to mass deaths for central Nigeria in di last 60 days
Tori of di latest attack for Benue state Nigeria wey lead to di deaths of over 100 pipo for Yelwata community for north central Nigeria dey trend for social media. Dis recent attacks, according to di National Emergency Management Agency, Nema, bin happun on Saturday, 14 June, 2025. Nema say dia early investigation show say more dan 100 pipo kpai for di attack including two sojas and one officer of di Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). "Dozens of pipo sustain injuries, and 46 individuals bin dey rushed to hospitals. Sadly, 20 of dem later die for hospital sake of di injuries wey dem sustain," di Nema statement read. But dis Yelwata killings no be di first in recent times, na di latest of di horrible attacks on communities for central Nigeria wey don claim di lives of hundreds of pipo in di last two months. Wen pipo relax wit hope say evritin don calm down, di jaguda pipo go waka go anoda community wey di villagers no expect. Men, children and women too don share di horrible experiences of rape from di herders hand be victims. Nigeria president Bola Tinubu don finally make promise say im go clear im schedule to visit Benue state on Wednesday 17 June 2025. Currently, Security oga dem move to end Benue killings as Tinubu prepare to enta Yelwata Earlier, Police tok-tok pesin for Plateau State, Fred Alabo for one interview wit BBC Pidgin tok say dem go do evritin legally possible to make dis jaguda pipo face di law. Dis na a timeline of di attacks fpr both Benue and Plateau State in recent weeks wey don kill hundreds and how e happun. Timeline of attacks and killings for central Nigeria March 2025 - For ending of March, about 52 pipo bin kpai for inside one attack for Bokkos local goment area of Plateau State. Di development bin make di National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu to visit di area and tok say enough don dey enough for di killers, and e go make sure say di killings stop. Wit all di ginger wey dat tori bin make di killings still dey go on. April 2025 - Anoda attack bin happun for Bassa local goment area of Plateau State, north-central Nigeria, according to wetin residents bin tell BBC Pidgin. Di attack bin happun for di early hours of Monday, 14 April between 1:00am and 2:00am. Yakubu Ventim wey be tori pesin for di state bin tok say di chairman of Bassa local goment area, Joshua Sunday Riti, bin carry some TV tori pipo wit plenty security to di community wia di attack bin happun. "Na about 38 to 50 pipo dem bin massacre for di village dis morning. "Dem ambush di community and kill mostly women and children," oga Ventim tok. May 2025 - At least 10 pipo die sake of kasala between herders and farmers for Riyom Local Goment Area of Plateau State. Tori pipo Channels Television bin report say from wetin start from farm destruction, cattle rustling, and attacks on livestock, pipo from both Fulani and Berom communities clash. Dem add say statement from Operation Safe Haven, confam say di insecurity for di council area bin start on Monday, May 12, 2025, wen suspected youths bin slaughter and rustle cattle wey bin enta dia farms for Dayan village, Riyom Local Goment Area. To take revenge, di herders attack Danchindo village on di evening of May 13, dem kill four people befor dem run as dem hear say police dey come. On May 14, di villagers bin kill 26 cows as dem dey para say dem kill dia pipo. Di herders later comeback again dat day, dem attack one settlement near Wereng Kam community, wia dem kill six locals. June 2025 - E be like say di month of June record di highest killings in recent times for Benue state. Di number of pipo wey die from di attacks on Gwer West and Apa local government areas of Benue State pass 50. Eyewitnesses bin also tok say some pipo still dey miss sake of say out of fear and to run for dia lives some pipo jump inside well. Suspected herdsmen bin attack residents of Tse-Antswam for Naka town, wey be headquarters of Gwer West LGA and Edikwu Ankpali for Apa local goment area of Benue state. According to Nema first report on Monday 16 June, 2025 na 100 pipo die, and 6,500 displaced for Benue attack. But locals and oda tori pipo tok say di number dey around 200. Ova di years, kasala between herders and farmers na regular tin for many parts of northern Nigeria including Plateau and Benue states. In reality, na di whole kontri dey feel di heat as e dey disturb farming and cause insecurity wey dey affect local food production and farm produce. Residents for northern Nigeria dey also face issues of banditry and oda criminalities. Who dey carry out dis attacks? Recently, di Govnor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, tok say dis regular attacks wey dey happun for di state don pass herdsmen and farmers fight and add say wetin dey happun now na terrorist attacks and "genocide". Mutfwang tok dis one for interview wit BBC as e lament say di killings don too much despite all di efforts wey di state goment dey do to make sure say peace dey. "I dey tell you for all honesty say I no fit find any explanation wey pass say dis na genocide wey terrorists dey sponsor. Di question na who be di pipo wey dey behind di organisers of dis terrorism? Dis na wetin di security agencies need to help us to reveal," di govnor tok "As I dey tok to you, e no dey less dan 64 communities wey don dey taken ova by bandits for Plateau between Bokkos, Barkin Ladi, and Riyom local goments. Dem don take di communities ova, rename dem, and pipo dey live dia comfortably on top lands wey dem pursue pipo comot and occupy." Also Benue State Govnor Hyacinth Alia tell tori pipo Arise TV for live interview on Tuesday 17 June say di recent attacks for Benue na acts of terrorism, as e don go beyond farmer-herder clashes "Of late, wetin we experience and wetin we see dey see dey appalling. E strong well-well, way beyond farmer-herder crisis. Di attacks na by bandits and terrorists." im tok. Youths of Benue State do we no go gree waka on Sunday for di state sake of di killings wey dey too much. ''We don taya, we dey helpless, we don become weak, we dey broken, we dey powerless becos goment no dey help us''. Di protest come less dan 24 hours afta suspected herders enta Yelwata community in di early hours of Saturday. Dem begin kill pipo and burn houses. Di number of pipo wey don die from di attacks wey just hapun for Yelwata community for Benue state fit still go up as Nema say di current figures still dey inconsistent sake of di volatile security situation and limited access to di affected areas. As e be now, more dan 6,527 pipo don run comot for dia house for Yelwata and dem dey take shelter for Internally Displaced People Camps. Dis include "1,768 females; 759 males; 657 children under 18 years; 1,870 adults above 18; 252 breast feeding mothers; 82 pregnant women; and 91 elderly persons". According to Nema, hospitals for Makurdi dey call for urgent blood donations for di pipo wey injure for di attack, and also for humanitarian support for di pipo wey dey IDP camps.
Al Arabiya
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Death toll from an attack by gunmen in north-central Nigeria reaches 150, survivors say
The death toll from an attack by gunmen over the weekend in north-central Nigeria has climbed to 150, survivors said Monday, as villagers were still digging through burned homes, counting their dead and looking for dozens of people still missing. Assailants stormed Benue state's Yelewata community late Friday night, opening fire on villagers who were asleep and setting their homes ablaze, survivors and the local farmers' union said. Many of those killed were sheltering in a local market after fleeing violence in other parts of the state. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the killings, but such attacks are common in Nigeria's northern region, where local herders and farmers often clash over limited access to land and water. The prolonged conflict has become deadlier in recent years, with authorities and analysts warning that more herdsmen are taking up arms. 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. Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu, whose government has fallen short of expectations in ending the country's deadly security crises, described the Benue attack as 'senseless bloodletting,' while his office said he would visit the stricken community on Wednesday. Titus Tsegba, who lost his wife and four of his children in the attack, said more than 20 bodies were recovered on Monday. The initial death toll was reported to be 100 on Saturday. His wife and children –– the youngest 8 and the oldest 27 –– were burned to ashes beyond recognition, he told The Associated Press, adding that he survived because he was sleeping in another part of the community. 'Everything is gone,' he said. Benue Deputy Gov. Sam Ode said he suspected the perpetrators were herdsmen. Ode and the survivors spoke to the AP by phone. The gunmen made it difficult for many to flee after surrounding the Yelewata community, which is about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the state capital of Makurdi, said Jacob Psokaa, who lost his 55-year-old father in the attack. 'They were coming from different sides at the same moment … it was sporadic shooting,' Psokaa said. 'The situation is very bad now with many people in the ground … your people leaving you suddenly.' The gunmen also burned food stores in the local market, razing a year's harvest that included rice and yam, staple food mainly exported from Benue to other parts of Nigeria. 'Enough is enough!' said Tinubu, the president. 'I have directed the security agencies to act decisively, arrest perpetrators of these evil acts on all sides of the conflict and prosecute them.'
News24
27-05-2025
- General
- News24
Nigeria attacks kill 44: local official
At least 44 people, including children and a pregnant woman, were killed in coordinated attacks in Benue state, Nigeria, over four days. Local officials blamed Fulani herders for the raids, describing them as systematic and brutal, with some victims mutilated. A Catholic priest was shot and wounded, and two passengers were abducted during one of the attacks; police confirmed fewer casualties. At least 44 people have been killed in separate attacks in recent days in central Nigeria, a local government official said on Tuesday, raising the toll in the latest raids in a region where herders and farmers often clash. The attacks occurred in three villages between Friday and Monday, the chairperson of the Gwer West local government area of Benue state, Ormin Torsar Victor, told AFP. Motives for the violence were not clear, but Victor blamed the 'coordinated attacks' on Fulani cattle herders. Muslim ethnic Fulani nomadic herders have long clashed with settled farmers, many of whom are Christian, in Benue over access to land and resources. 'As of today morning, I passed through Aondona, they were mentioning 14 bodies that have been recovered, including a pregnant woman and a boy of two,' he told AFP, adding that 30 others were killed in Ahume. 'Yesterday evening one person was killed, the number keeps increasing by the day. Even now I think some corpses have not yet been discovered,' he said, calling the attacks 'systematic'. The victims were either shot or stabbed, he said. He said the 'pregnant woman was macheted' while the two-year-old boy was 'mutilated'. A Catholic priest was shot and wounded while driving along the Markudi-Naka road, the church and the local government official said. 'They shot him and left him there thinking he was dead,' said Victor, adding that two passengers that were with him were abducted. In a call for prayers for the wounded priest posted on Facebook, the church said he was shot by 'suspected terrorist herdsmen'. 'Coordinated attacks' A resident of Aondona, Ruthie Dan Sam, told AFP late on Monday that '20 people were killed here in Aondona'. She said: Children of less than two are being killed. The worst sight is a baby macheted on its mouth. She added that other people had been killed in neighbouring villages, but said she had no figures. Victor said he and other locals had buried five people, including a father and two of his sons killed in the village of Tewa Biana 'very close to a military base'. Benue state police spokesperson Anene Sewuese Catherine confirmed two attacks in the area but said her office had received 'no report of 20 people' killed. She said that one raid resulted in the death of a policeman who had 'repelled an attack' and that 'three dead bodies were discovered'. The attacks in Nigeria's so-called Middle Belt often take on a religious or ethnic dimension. Benue has been one of the states hit hardest by such violence between nomadic herders and farmers who blame herders for destroying farmland with their cattle grazing.
Jordan Times
12-05-2025
- Jordan Times
Gunmen kill 23 in Nigeria's central region — Red Cross official
By AFP - May 12,2025 - Last updated at May 12,2025 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 (AFP photo) JOS, NIGERIA — 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.
