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Nigeria: Dozens Killed in Attack on Farming Community in Plateau State
ABUJA, Nigeria – Nigerian President Bola Tinubu confirmed Monday that at least 40 people were killed in an attack on a Christian farming community in north-central Nigeria. Suspected Muslim herders are believed to be responsible for the late Sunday night assault, marking the latest in a growing wave of violence plaguing the West African nation and highlighting the persistent challenges of farmer-herder conflict in Nigeria.
President Orders Investigation
President Tinubu announced he has directed an investigation into the late Sunday night attack on the Zike community. He conveyed his condolences to the victims and their relatives.
“I have directed security agencies to comprehensively probe this incident and identify those responsible for perpetrating these violent acts,” Tinubu stated in a statement issued late Monday.
Eyewitness Accounts and Amnesty International Report
Amnesty International reported that the casualties, including vulnerable populations such as children and the elderly, were caught unaware and unable to escape the assailants.
These types of assaults have become increasingly frequent in this region of Africa’s largest nation. Assailants, often identified as herders from the Fulani ethnic group, capitalize on security vulnerabilities to conduct lethal assaults on farming communities, driven by disputes over arable land and resources.
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As stated by Andy Yakubu, an area inhabitant, the assailants in the Sunday night attack also ravaged and pillaged homes in the Zike community, situated in the Bassa area of Plateau State.
Yakubu stated he witnessed fatalities following the attack and indicated the death toll could surpass 50. No arrests have been made to date, he added.
Escalating Farmer-Herder Conflict
The Fulani ethnic group has been allegedly responsible for widespread violence across the northwest and central regions. The protracted dispute over access to land and water in these areas has further exacerbated religious polarization between Christians and Muslims.
Amnesty International reports that between December 2023 and February 2024, 1,336 individuals were slain in Plateau State – suggesting that measures implemented by Tinubu’s administration to mitigate the violence remain inadequate.
Local Perspectives on Persistent Violence
Samuel Jugo, a representative for the Irigwe Development Association, a community association in the Bassa area, stated on Monday that at least 75 Irigwe people, a Christian ethnic group, have perished since December 2024.
Jugo noted that despite the dispatch of additional troops to the region, violence persists. He described the latest incident as “inflammatory, deeply troubling, and unwarranted.”
In May 2024, assailants attacked isolated settlements in Plateau State, leaving at least 40 people dead during a nocturnal assault.
Broader Context: Militancy in Nigeria
The farmer-herder violence in north-central Nigeria is distinct from the ongoing conflict with Boko Haram, Nigeria’s domestic militants who initiated an armed insurgency in 2009 to oppose secular education and establish a strict interpretation of Sharia law. That insurgency, now Africa’s longest militant conflict, has also expanded into Nigeria’s northern neighbors.