A wave of deadly violence swept across parts of Nigeria’s Benue state late Sunday night as unknown assailants launched coordinated attacks on multiple villages, leaving at least 22 people dead and several others injured, police confirmed Tuesday.
The shootings occurred in the Gwer West and Apa local government areas, where law enforcement and residents are still counting the losses. According to state police spokesperson Udeme Edet, 12 people were killed in Apa and 10 more in Gwer West. Local accounts, however, suggest the true death toll may exceed 30.
“Five people who survived the attacks are currently receiving medical treatment in a local hospital,” Edet said in an AP report.
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Such discrepancies in casualty figures between official reports and local sources are not uncommon in Nigeria, where communication gaps and underreporting often cloud the scale of rural violence.
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On Monday, Paul Biam, Chief of Staff to Governor Hyacinth Alia, visited the ravaged communities. He assured residents that the state government was intensifying efforts to curb the growing wave of violence in the region.
This latest tragedy comes just days after another deadly incident in the village of Aondona in Gwer West, where gunmen killed at least 20 people in a similar raid. The frequency and scale of these attacks have stoked fears of a deteriorating security situation in Benue.
Although no group has claimed responsibility, the region remains a hotspot for ongoing clashes between farmers and herders, often triggered by disputes over land and grazing access.
Farmers frequently accuse Fulani herders of trespassing on farmland and destroying crops. The herders, on the other hand, argue that these farmlands lie along designated grazing routes that have existed since legislation was passed in 1965, just five years after Nigeria gained independence.
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