Unidentified gunmen attacked a village in north-central Nigeria, killing dozens of people, local government officials said on Friday (April 7th). The attack took place on Wednesday in Umogidi, Benue state, where attacks and reprisals are commonplace between Fulani herders and sedentary cultivators fighting for control of land.
At least 46 dead bodies have been recovered, but “many people are still missing and the number of casualties could be higher,” said Oayul Hemba, security adviser to the governor of Benue state. He blamed herders in that area, saying they had already repeatedly attacked local communities in recent months. “Soldiers have been sent there, so the situation is a bit calmer,” he added.
Baba Usman Ngelzarma, president of an association of Fulani herders in Nigeria, for his part warned against the temptation to accuse them without proof. “We are facing a deliberate campaign of ‘demonization’ of Fulani herders, which started in Benue and then spread to other parts of Nigeria,” he said. And to add:
“We are not saying that Fulani herders did not participate in some of the attacks, but the way they are systematically blamed for every attack is unfair and damaging. »
Rural violence
According to Bala Ejeh, who chairs the local government of Otupko in this region, the assailants attacked the village on Wednesday afternoon as residents mourned the deaths the day before of three of their own. He confirmed the death toll of 46, including his own son and two other relatives.
Rural violence is one of the challenges still facing President-elect Bola Tinubu, who won the presidential election in February marred by numerous delays and accusations of electoral fraud. He is due to take office in May and will also have to deal with a jihadist insurgency in the northeast and secessionist unrest in the southeast.
Violence in rural communities has escalated into large-scale crime in the northwest and center of the country, where armed gangs are ransoming villages and kidnapping dozens of people for ransom.