Nigeria: More than 100 killed in massacres by Fulani herders

Following a massacre against farmers in Nigeria on Sunday, in which Fulani herders killed more than 100 Christians, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) calls for more local peace initiatives to curb the violent land conflicts. "These outbreaks of violence have nothing to do with the terror of Boko Haram – but we are deeply concerned about the increase of targeted attacks on Christian villages in which the Fulani herders kill Christian farmers and chant Islamist paroles," said Ulrich Delius, the STP’s Africa-consultant, in Göttingen on Tuesday. The conflict is not primarily about religious issues, but about land and grazing rights in a region that is heavily influenced by the negative effects of climate change.

On Sunday morning, Fulani herders in military uniforms attacked farmsteads and refugee camps in the towns of Gafa, Per, Ukura and Tse-Gusa in Benue State, killing women, children and elderly people who had fled from attacks of the herders in the neighboring state of Taraba and had found refuge in the camps. Many of the victims were just preparing for the Sunday service and offered the attackers no resistance. Several women were massacred on their way to the nearby river where they wanted to fetch water for the ceremony. The attackers raged for six hours and destroyed hundreds of homes. On Tuesday, more than 100 victims were buried in mass graves.

According to information by the STP, more than 170 people died in clashes between Fulani herders and farmers in central Nigeria since the beginning of May 2015. Between April 25 and May 11, 2015, Fulani herders attacked at least eight villages, killing more than 70 Christian residents. The worst incident was an attack against a church in the town of Foron on May 2, 2015:  27 Christians got killed, including a pastor. Before, in mid-March, 82 people were massacred in an attack on a Christian village in Benue State.

There have been conflicts between the herders and the farmers for decades, but they are intensified by the consequences of climate change. During the past 50 years, 35 percent of the grazing land in northern Nigeria has been reduced to a desert – which is why the herders venture further south in search for new pastures, causing clashes with the farmers.

Header Photo: Flickr/Jeremy Weate