Over 30 killed in attacks on villages in central Nigeria

More than 30 people have been killed in a series of attacks on villages in central Nigeria’s Benue State over the weekend, marking the latest outbreak of violence in a region often marred by clashes between herders and farmers.

The assaults occurred between Friday and Sunday in three villages within the Gwer West area. According to the local government chairman, at least 20 people were killed in Aondona village on Sunday alone, while more than 10 others were slain in nearby communities.

“Children under the age of two are among the victims. The most horrifying scene was a baby with machete wounds across the mouth,” said a resident of Aondona.

The local chairman also reported burying five victims, including a father and his two sons, in the village of Tewa Biana—situated close to a military base.

Authorities confirmed two attacks in the area. One police officer was killed while repelling an assault, and three additional bodies were later found. However, officials said no formal report had yet confirmed 20 deaths in a single village.

While the motive behind the attacks remains uncertain, the local chairman attributed the violence to Fulani cattle herders, describing the incidents as “coordinated assaults.”

Benue State lies within Nigeria’s Middle Belt, where tensions between nomadic Fulani herders and largely Christian farming communities frequently erupt over access to land and grazing routes. These conflicts often carry ethnic and religious overtones and have left thousands dead or displaced in recent years.