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Benue State, Nigeria – May 28, 2025 – At least 42 people were killed over the weekend in a series of coordinated attacks by suspected armed herders across multiple villages in Gwer West Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State, according to local officials.
Victor Omnin, chairman of the Gwer West LGA, confirmed the death toll on Tuesday, stating that 32 bodies were recovered following attacks on the villages of Ahume and Aondona on Sunday, while 10 additional victims were killed in separate incidents in Tyolaha and Tse-Ubiam on Saturday.
“It’s a pathetic situation. As we speak, we are still recovering corpses,” Omnin told reporters, describing the scale and brutality of the assaults.
Benue State lies in Nigeria’s volatile Middle Belt, a region marked by protracted conflict over land and resources. The area is frequently the site of violence between predominantly Muslim nomadic herders and Christian farming communities. These clashes are driven by longstanding disputes over grazing routes, agricultural land, and exacerbated by ethnic and religious tensions.
The office of Benue State Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia confirmed the attacks and reported that a Catholic priest was among the victims of the violence. The priest was shot during the assault but survived and is currently in critical but stable condition, officials said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, and Nigerian security forces have yet to make any arrests. However, similar incidents in the past have been attributed to heavily armed herder militia groups operating in the region.
The state government and local leaders have repeatedly called for increased federal security presence and more proactive measures to address the underlying causes of the herder-farmer conflict, including land reform and enhanced community policing.
Despite several military operations aimed at stabilizing the region, Benue remains one of the Nigerian states most affected by communal violence, with hundreds of people killed and thousands displaced annually due to clashes between farming and herding communities.
The Nigerian government has not yet issued an official statement regarding the weekend’s killings.
