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Gunmen kill 25 in restive central Nigeria state 

Gunmen kill 25 in restive central Nigeria state 

JOS – Gunmen killed 25 people in two attacks across north-central Nigeria’s Benue state over the weekend, local authorities told AFP yesterday, the latest violence in a region known for deadly land disputes and reprisals. 

Attackers killed 14 people on Sunday in the community of Ankpali, said Adam Ochega, chairman of the Apa local government council, warning that “there are still some threats here and there”. 

Muslim ethnic Fulani nomadic herders have long clashed with settled farmers, many of whom are Christian, in Benue over access to land and resources. In a recent report, Amnesty International tallied 6,896 people killed over the last two years in Benue, part of Nigeria’s so-called Middle Belt, a mixed-religious region where such disputes often take on a sectarian dimension. 

A police spokeswoman confirmed the attack but did not provide a toll. Contacted by telephone, resident Ajija  Moses said the attackers stormed the community around 6:00 pm, blaming armed Fulani men who were “shooting sporadically”. In a similar attack Sunday evening on Naka village, of Gwer West local government area, 11 people were killed by what authorities said were suspected Fulani militias. 

“So far we have recovered 11 dead bodies and five people are confirmed injured,” Gwer West council chairman Ormin Victor told AFP

Last month, 44 people were killed in a span of four days in Gwer West. 

Motives for the violence in that attack were not clear, but Victor blamed the “coordinated attacks” on Fulani cattle herders. 

Resident Amineh Vincent said the village continued to live in fear. 

“The attackers invaded our community… were shooting anyhow, they killed many people,” he told AFP

The attackers don’t “want us to cultivate our lands, they keeping on attacking and killing us,” he alleged. 

– Nampa/AFP