NIGERIA-ATTACK – TELAM Agency
Nigerian authorities reported today that close to fifty people were killed last Wednesday in an armed attack allegedly carried out by ranchers, who are fighting with farmers in a dispute over control of land.
The attack occurred in Umogidi, in the state of Benue, in the south of the African country, where attacks and reprisals are common between nomadic herders and sedentary farmers, fighting for control of the territory.
At least 46 bodies were found in the area, but “many people are still missing, so the death toll could be higher,” said Paul Hemba, security adviser to the governor of Benue, quoted by the AFP news agency.
Hemba pointed to the ranchers in the region, and stated that in the last month they have already staged several attacks on local communities.
“Soldiers have been sent to the area, so the situation is calmer now,” he said.
According to Bala Ejeh, who chairs the government of the town of Otukpo, in the same region, the assailants attacked the town on Wednesday afternoon when the locals were mourning the murder, a day earlier, of three residents.
Ejeh, who also spoke of 46 deaths so far, revealed that his own son and two other relatives were among those killed.
Rural violence is one of the biggest challenges for President-elect Bola Tinubu, who prevailed last month in the Nigerian presidential election, marked by delays and accusations of voter fraud.
Tinubu will take office in May, and will also have to deal with a jihadist insurrection in the north of the country and secessionist tensions in the southeast.
Source: Ambito
