Dakar, Senegal (AP) – The death toll from gunmen attacks in northern Nigeria has climbed to 150 over the weekend, with survivors on Monday saying villagers are still digging burned houses, counting the dead and searching for dozens of people who are still missing.
The attackers rushed into the Yelewata community in Benue late Friday, opening fire on the sleeping villagers, survivors and local migrant workers’ union said. Many of the people killed are under shelter in local markets after fleeing violence in other parts of the state.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for murder, but such attacks were common in northern Nigeria where local herders and farmers often clashed on limited land and water. Prolonged conflicts have become even more deadly in recent years, with authorities and analysts warning that more herders are carrying weapons.
Farmers accuse the herders, mainly Fulani’s origins, of putting livestock on the farm and destroying their produce. Pastoralists insist that the land was the first legally supported grazing route in 1965, five years after the country gained independence.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s government has insufficient expectations for an end to the country’s deadly security crisis, calling the Benue attack “meaningless bleeding” while his office said he would visit the Stricken community on Wednesday.
Titus Tsegba, who lost his wife and four children in the attack, said there were more than 20 bodies on Monday. The initial death toll was reported at 100 on Saturday.
He told the Associated Press that his wife and children — the youngest 8 and the oldest 27 — were “burned to ashes,” adding that he survived because he slept in another part of the community.
“Everything has disappeared,” he said.
Benue Lieutenant Governor Sam Ode said he suspected the perpetrator was a herder. The chant and the survivor talked to the AP over the phone.
The Gunners are hard to escape after the Yelewata community, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the state capital Makurdi.
“They came from different sides at the same time… It was sporadic shootings,” Psokaa said. “The situation is very bad now, and many people are on the ground… Your people suddenly left you.”
The Gunners also burned down food stores in local markets, scattered for a year’s harvest, which included rice and yam, mainly staples exported from Benue to other parts of Nigeria.
“Enough!” said President Tinob. “I direct security agencies to take decisive action to arrest these evil perpetrators in all aspects of the conflict and prosecute them.”
