Gunmen kill at least 100 in Benue state

Gunmen killed at least 100 people in the Yelewata village in Nigeria’s Benue state late Friday, Amnesty International Nigeria said.

“Many people are still missing…dozens injured and left without adequate medical care. Many families were locked up and burnt inside their bedrooms,” the human rights organisation said in a social media post.

Police spokesperson Udeme Edet from Benue confirmed the attack but did not specify the death toll. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack.

Governor of Benue state Hyacinth Alia sent a delegation to Yelewata to provide support to the relatives of the victims.

Visuals circulated on social media showed burnt houses and corpses.

Violence in the Middle Belt

Benue state lies in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, in the center of the Muslim-majority north and the Christian-majority south.

The region often sees violence over access to land and water resources between farmers and herders, worsened by ethnic and religious tensions.

Violence in the region has claimed 500 lives since 2019, and displaced thousands of others, as per data by Nigerian geo-political research consultancy SBM Intelligence.

Last month, gunmen believed to be herders killed at least 20 in the Gwer West district in Benue. In April, 40 were killed in in the nearby state of Plateau.