| April 2022 Benue State Killings | |
|---|---|
| Part of Herder-farmer conflict in Nigeria | |
| Location | Villages in and around Guma LGA, Benue State, Nigeria |
| Date | April 11–12, 2022 |
| Deaths | 25+ |
| Injured | 10+ |
| Perpetrator | Fulani herdsmen |
On April 12, 2022, armed herdsmen attacked several villages in Benue State, Nigeria, killing over 25 people and injuring many more.
Nigeria has been facing a conflict between Christian farmers and Fulani herdsmen in the center and northern parts of the country since 1999. The fighting has been a cycle, and many attacks are often against innocent herders or farmers as reprisal and retaliation attacks against others. On March 10, Fulani herdsmen attacked the village of Ahentse, hometown of Benue State governor Samuel Ortom. [1] Five people were killed in the attacks. Further attacks in Guma LGA continued throughout March and early April. [2]
The attacks targeted villages in three LGAs. The first attack was in the village of Semaka around 9pm on April 11, and killed five Christian civilians and injured over ten others. [3] [4] The perpetrators fled on bikes, and then attacked the villages of Tyotugh and Gaambetiev in Guma LGA. [5] Nine people were killed in Tyotugh, and fifteen in Gaambetiev, although the exact death toll is not known due to some people being killed after fleeing into the forest. [3] [5] One of the bodies was Chief Unongo Shaayange of the Logo LGA. [5] The perpetrators were not immediately caught.
In a protest against the perpetrators, angered civilians from the attacked villages stacked the bodies of the slain villagers on the Makurdi-Gboko highway and blocked traffic. [3] The confrontation ended after an intervention by the Benue State Police Commissioner. [4]
Governor Samuel Ortom the next day reiterated statements for civilians to defend themselves against bandits and herdsmen. [6] The Security Adviser to Ortom, Lt. Col. Paul Hemba, stated that the death toll was likely to increase as bodies were still being found. [5]
Twelve kidnappers were caught in January 2023, alleged to be involved with the April 12 killings. [7]
Benue River, previously known as the Chadda River or Tchadda, is the major tributary of the Niger River. The size of its catchment basin is 319,000 km2. Almost its entire length of approximately 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) is navigable during the summer months. As a result, it is an important transportation route in the regions through which it flows. The name Benue comes from Binuwe, meaning 'Mother of Waters’ in the Batta language.
Agatu is a Local Government Area of Benue State, North Central Nigeria. It was created in 1996. It used to be the Agatu district of the old Otukpo division. The headquarters of the local government is at Obagaji; it is one of nine local government areas in the southern senatorial zone of Benue State which is mainly occupied by the Idoma people of Benue State. The resident population are mainly farmers.
Guma is a Local Government Area of Benue State, North Central Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Gbajimba.
Between 23 and 25 June 2014, a series of attacks occurred in central Nigeria. On 23–24 June, gunmen attacked a number of villages in Kaduna State, killing around 150 people. The attack was blamed on Fulani tribesmen. On 25 June 2014, a bomb exploded at the Emab Plaza in the national capital of Abuja, killing at least 21 people. In response to the bombing, the Nigerian military raided two militants camps on 26 June, killing more than 100 people.
Religious violence in Nigeria refers to Christian-Muslim strife in modern Nigeria, which can be traced back to 1953. Today, religious violence in Nigeria is dominated by the Boko Haram insurgency, which aims to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria. Since the turn of the 21st century, 62,000 Nigerian Christians have been killed by the terrorist group Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen and other groups. The killings have been referred to as a silent genocide.
Nimbo is a border town in Uzo-Uwani area of Enugu State, Nigeria, where seven villages- Ekwuru, Nimbo-Ngwoko, Ugwuijoro, Ebor, Enugu-Nimbo, Umuome and Ugwuachara were invaded, and scores massacred by over 500 armed Fulani herdsmen, rated the fourth deadliest terror group in the world, in the early hours of April 25, 2016. Uzo Uwani has boundaries with the Southern States of Ebonyi and Anambra, and Central States of Benue and Kogi, where these attacks have increased lately.
The Agatu attacks and massacres occurred in Agatu, Benue State, began in late February 2016 and continued for several days into March.
Herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria are a series of disputes over arable land resources across Nigeria between the mostly-Muslim Fulani herders and the mostly-Christian non-Fulani farmers. The conflicts have been especially prominent in the Middle Belt since the return of democracy in 1999. More recently, they have deteriorated into attacks on farmers by Fulani herdsmen.
Dickson Dominic Tarkighir is a Nigerian politician. He is a member of the 10th Nigeria National Assembly of the Nigerian House of Representatives representing Makurdi/Guma Federal Constituency. He was also a member of the 8th National Assembly and a member of the ECOWAS parliament.
Ethnic conflicts involving the Fulani people occur in West Africa, primarily in Nigeria, but also in Mali, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic, due to conflicts over land and culture. The death count for each attack is small, although the cumulative death count is in the thousands.
The Ruga policy is a Nigerian policy intended to reduce herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria. Introduced by the Buhari presidency, it is aimed at resolving the conflict between nomadic Fulani herdsmen and sedentary farmers. The policy, which is currently suspended, would "create reserved communities where herders will live, grow and tend their cattle, produce milk and undertake other activities associated with the cattle business without having to move around in search of grazing land for their cows."
Terwase Akwaza also known as Gana was a most wanted criminal and head of a militia in Benue State, Nigeria, whose activities peaked between 2015 and 2020. According to Murphy Ganagana and George Okoh, he was likened to the heroic outlaw, Robin Hood. He terrorized the Sankera geopolitical axis comprising Katsina Ala, Ukum, and Logo local governments' area, for more than a decade. Locals ascribed magical powers of disappearing and appearing to him and trembled at the mention of his name. Hated for his crimes, he positioned himself to be seen by the Tiv people as their defender against external aggression. He was loved by the people of his village, Gbeji, for providing them with basic amenities. Gana was accused of massacres, kidnappings, assassinations, robberies, cattle rustling, terrorism and murders. He levied farmers, traders, and prominent people. Resisting to pay brought death. His supremacy battle with former allies devastated several communities. A bounty of 50 million naira was placed on his head. Covert operations as well as air and ground offensives by the Nigeria Police and military to smoke out and arrest or kill him failed. He was murdered by the Nigerian Army after he turned himself in for amnesty on 8 September 2020.
Events in the year 2022 in Nigeria.
Between December 19 and 25, 2022, several villages in Kagoro, Kaduna State, Nigeria were attacked by unknown groups, who killed over 46 people in two attacks.
From 15 to 16 May 2023 over one hundred people were killed in an attack by Fulani herders against villagers in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria.
On June 17, 2019, ethnic Fulani militiamen attacked Dogon civilians in the villages of Gangafani and Yoro, in Koro Cercle, Mali, killing 41 people.
On January 3, 2020, suspected Fulani militants attacked the town of Tawari, Kogi State, Nigeria, killing twenty-nine people.
On May 26, 2020, over seventy-four people were killed on multiple attacks in villages in Sabon Birni LGA in Sokoto State, Nigeria. The attacks were a campaign of reprisal attacks targeting Garki, and came after the massacre of nineteen civilians by bandits in Sabon Birni a week prior.
On June 7, 2021, suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked the village of Odugbeho, Agatu LGA, Benue State, Nigeria, killing at least forty people.
