Abuja, Nigeria (AP) – At least 20 people were killed in the simultaneous attacks of several communities in Benue state in northern central Nigeria, police said Tuesday.
Benue Police Department spokesman Udeme Edet said the attack occurred later Sunday in communities in Gwer West and APA areas.
Edet said 12 people were killed in Gwer West in the APA, but local reports said the death toll could exceed 30. Five people who survived the attack are currently receiving medical treatment in local hospitals.
Nigerian police usually provide lower deaths than local authorities and witnesses when reporting attacks.
Benue Gov. Hyacinth Alia's chief of staff Paul Biam visited the community on Monday and said the government is doing everything possible to prevent attacks in the state.
The Gwer West and APA areas in Benue have witnessed the rise in attacks in recent months. Last week, the gunmen killed at least 20 people in an attack on Gwer West's village of Aondona.
Although it is unclear who is responsible for the killing, such attacks are common in northern Nigeria where local herders and farmers often clash in limited land and water.
Farmers accuse the herders, mainly Fulani's origins, of putting livestock on the farm and destroying crops. Pastoralists insist that the farm was the first legally supported grazing route in 1965, five years after the country gained independence.
