At least 23 people lost their lives on Saturday’s attacks by gunmen on four villages in Benue, Nigeria. On Sunday, the Red Cross representative Anthony Abah informed about it, TASR writes according to AFP report.
“The terrain reports have confirmed the killing of at least 23 people in various attacks,” ABAH said. In his words, he suffered an unspecified number of persons injuries. It could have been conflicts about the use of land among nomadic shepherds of cattle and settlers that are common in this area, writes agency. The police did not immediately comment on the attacks. Some of the attacked areas were the target of violence more than a month ago when similar attacks claimed at least 56 victims.
States in the northwest and in the central part of Nigeria have been experiencing clashes between nomadic shepherds and local farmers in which they are water and land. However, violence was sharply intensifying after the emergence of large criminal gangs that steal cattle, fall and plunder villages and carry people asking for their release. According to AFP, tension is also strengthened by religious and ethnic differences.
