Makurdi, Nigeria — At least 56 people have been confirmed dead following a wave of brutal attacks by suspected herdsmen on rural communities in Nigeria’s central Benue State, Governor Hyacinth Alia announced on Saturday. The death toll marks a dramatic increase from earlier police reports, and underscores a growing resurgence of intercommunal violence in the country’s north-central region.
Governor Alia provided the grim update while visiting Logo and Ukum Local Government Areas (LGAs)—the epicenters of the attacks—where villagers continue to unearth bodies from what is being described as one of the deadliest single-day massacres in the state this year.
“In the early hours of today, more bodies were discovered in Logo LGA—27 in total,” Alia told journalists, according to the News Agency of Nigeria. “In Ukum LGA, an additional 29 corpses have been found, bringing the toll to 56 so far. This is quite devastating.”
Initial estimates from police sources placed the casualty figure at just 17. However, as search efforts continued into the weekend, more victims were found in remote farmlands and burnt-out compounds. The violence erupted late Friday and continued into early Saturday morning, targeting vulnerable farming communities already plagued by displacement and insecurity.
The assailants, suspected to be armed Fulani herders, reportedly stormed the villages in coordinated assaults, using automatic weapons and setting homes ablaze. The attacks appear to be part of an escalating cycle of farmer-herder conflict rooted in land disputes, grazing rights, and deep-seated ethnic tensions.
The violence in Benue follows a similar pattern of deadly incidents across the Middle Belt region, a volatile stretch of land where Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north and largely Christian south meet. Just days earlier, 11 people were killed in the Otukpo area of Benue, while over 50 people lost their lives in a separate attack in Plateau State on Monday night.
Since 2019, ongoing clashes between nomadic herders and settled farmers have claimed more than 500 lives and displaced approximately 2.2 million people, according to SBM Intelligence, a Nigeria-based research and security consultancy. The unrest has disrupted agricultural production in this key food-producing region, deepening hunger and economic instability.
Benue police confirmed that a separate attack took place early Friday in Gbagir village, Ukum LGA, where five farmers were shot and killed. The gunmen reportedly opened fire as police units were approaching to engage them.
“As our officers advanced to confront the attackers at Ukum, another group struck in Logo LGA, killing 12 people,” said Sewuese Anene, spokesperson for the Benue State Police Command.
Authorities said security operations are ongoing, but residents remain on edge as fears of further retaliation grow. Human rights groups have repeatedly called on the federal government to deploy more resources to curb the violence and protect vulnerable rural populations.
Governor Alia described the attacks as “a national emergency,” and urged both the state and federal security agencies to act swiftly.
