Gunmen killed at least 18 people in Nigeria's northern Benue state in an attack over the weekend, according to residents and local officials, sparking
Gunmen killed at least 18 people in Nigeria’s northern Benue state in an attack over the weekend, according to residents and local officials, sparking a protest march by angry locals who blocked roads in response to the violence.
The attack struck the Otukpo-Nobi community in the Otukpo Local Government Area early on Sunday, with residents saying armed men opened fire between roughly 3:30 am and 4:30 am.
Benue police spokesperson Udeme Edet gave a lower toll, putting the number of dead at eight and the wounded at five.
Residents identified the attackers as suspected Fulani herders, while local government chairman Maxwell Ogiri linked the violence to the killing of the chairman of the herders’ association two weeks earlier.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. In its aftermath, women and youths from the affected community marched through the town of Otukpo to protest the killings.
Benue has long been a flashpoint for deadly clashes between farming communities and cattle herders, as well as attacks by armed groups, in violence frequently rooted in competition over land and resources.
The state, located in Nigeria’s north-central region, has seen repeated waves of such attacks in recent years, underscoring the persistent security challenges facing communities caught between farming and herding livelihoods.
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