Camillus Eboh
LAGOS (Reuters) – At least 17 people were killed when police attacked the community in Benue State in central Nigeria on Thursday.
Years of conflict have destroyed food supply from northern and northern Nigeria, an important agricultural region.
The latest attack happened two days after 11 people were killed in the Otukpo area of Benue, just a week after gunmen attacked the village and killed more than 50 people in the neighboring Plateau state.
The conflict has claimed more than 500 lives in the region since 2019 and forced 2.2 million people to leave their homes, according to research firm SBM Intelligence.
Police said earlier on Friday a group of alleged herders fired and killed five farmers in the Ukum local government area in Benue. Police spokesman Sewuese Anene said in a statement that the attackers opened fire as police officers face to face with them.
Police said 12 more people killed the logo local council area about 70 kilometers away in another attack site of the logo when the officers interacted with the attackers in Ukum.
(Report by Camillus Eboh; writing by Ben Ezeamalu; edited by Andrew Heavens)
