Nearly 50 killed in North Central Nigeria after gunmen assault remote community

Kano, Nigeria: Local government authorities claimed Friday that gunmen assaulted a remote community in northern central Nigeria, murdering scores of people in the latest in a series of violent attacks in the region. The incident occurred on Wednesday in Umogidi, Benue State, where tit-for-tat confrontations between nomadic herders and established farmers contending for land and resources are regular. “The 46 casualties were from the bodies of victims found and retrieved. Many people are still missing, so the number of those killed may be higher,” Paul Hemba, a security adviser to Benue State governor, told AFP. He blamed herdsmen who he said had been attacking local communities over the last month. “Soldiers have been dispatched to the area, so the situation is a bit calm now.” The motive for the attack was not clear but Benue has been one of the hardest hit by intercommunal clashes between farmers and ethnic Fulani herders accused of destroying farmland with their cattle grazing. Baba Usman Ngelzarma, chairman of the Myetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), a union of Fulani herders, warned against blaming herders without investigation. “There is a deliberate campaign of demonisation of Fulani herders which started in Benue and spread to other parts of Nigeria,” he said. “We are not exonerating Fulani herders from involvement in some of the attacks but the way they are always blamed for every attack is unfair and prejudiced.” He called for an investigation to find the real perpetrators. Bala Ejeh, Otukpo local government chairman, said the gunmen attacked on Wednesday afternoon when people were mourning three others killed a day earlier. He also said 46 bodies had been recovered so far, including that of his own son and two relatives. Communal violence is just one of the security challenges facing President-elect Bola Tinubu who won a February presidential ballot that was marked by heavy delays and accusations of vote rigging. Security forces are also battling a 14-year-long jihadist conflict and attacks by separatists. Intercommunal violence has spiralled into broader criminality in the northwest and centre of the country, where heavily armed bandit militias ransack villages and carry out mass abductions for ransom. Read all the Latest News, Trending News,  Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.