At least 30 people were killed in an attack on an internally displaced person’s camp in north-central Nigeria, the second major attack in the area this week, authorities said Saturday.
Gunmen attacked civilians in Mgban village in Benue state Friday evening and an investigation is underway, said Sewuese Anene, a local police officer.
While it’s unclear who was responsible for the attack, authorities said suspicion fell on local herdsmen who have clashed in the past with farmers over land disputes in north-central Nigeria.
The farmers accuse the herders, mostly of Fulani origin, of grazing their livestock on their farms and destroying their produce. The herders insist that the lands are grazing routes that were first backed by law in 1965, five years after the country gained its independence.
The people attacked had been displaced from fighting between farmers and cattle herders and were seeking refuge in a makeshift displacement site.
The violence comes days after gunmen killed at least 50 people in two separate attacks on Umogidi village in the state, which is referred to as “Nigeria’s food basket” because of its bountiful harvests. The villages are some 170 kilometers (105 miles) away from Friday’s attack, however, it’s unclear if the same group was responsible for both attacks.
