Attack leaves at least 40 people dead in Nigeria, the country’s president says

ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria’s president said on Monday that at least 40 people were killed when Muslim gunmen, believed to be herders, attacked a Christian farming community in the north-central part of the country, the latest in an increasing wave of violence in the West African country.

President Bola Tinubu also said he has ordered an investigation over the late Sunday night attack on the Zike community, extending his condolences to the victims and their families.

“I have instructed security agencies to thoroughly investigate this crisis and identify those responsible for orchestrating these violent acts,” Tinubu said in a statement late Monday.

Amnesty International said the victims, who included children and the elderly, were taken by surprise and could not flee from the gunmen.

Such attacks have become common in this part of Africa’s most populous country, where gunmen — typically herders from Fulani, a Muslim tribe — exploit security lapses to launch deadly raids on farmers in a fight over land resources.

According to Andy Yakubu, a local resident, gunmen in Sunday night’s attack also destroyed and looted homes in the Zike community, located in the Bassa area of Plateau state,

Yakubu said he saw bodies after the attack and that the number of dead could exceed 50. No one has been arrested so far, he added.

The Fulani have been accused of carrying out mass killings across the northwest and central regions, where the decades-long conflict over access to land and water has further worsened the divisions between farmers and herders, Christians and Muslims.

Amnesty says that between December 2023 and February 2024, 1,336 people were killed in Plateau state — an indication that the measures taken by Tinubu’s administration to curb the violence are not working.

Samuel Jugo, spokesperson of the Irigwe Development Association, an ethnic organization in the Bassa area, said in a statement on Monday that at least 75 people of the Irigwe, a Christian ethnic group, have been killed since December 2024.

Jugo said that despite deployment of additional security forces to the area, violence still occurs and described the latest assault as “very provocative, vexing and undeserving.”

In May 2024, armed men attacked remote villages in Plateau, killing at least 40 people during a late-night raid.

The violence over land resources in north-central Nigeria is separate from the battles with Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown jihadis who took up arms in 2009 to fight Western education and impose their radical version of Islamic law. That conflict, now Africa’s longest struggle with militancy, has also spilled into Nigeria’s northern neighbors.

 

3 things to know about Trump’s plan to send troops to Portland and Memphis

President Trump ordered the deployment of troops to Portland and said he's authorized them to use "full force" to curb protests outside of ICE facilities.

Overseas Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Nathan Law denied entry to Singapore

The activist wanted by the Hong Kong government said he was denied entry to Singapore over the weekend for what he presumes were political reasons.

Moldova’s pro-EU party wins clear parliamentary majority, defeating pro-Russian groups

Moldova's pro-Western governing party won a clear parliamentary majority, defeating pro-Russian groups in an election that was widely viewed as a stark choice between East and West.

She felt abandoned — until a teacher’s hug reminded her she wasn’t alone

When she was in the sixth grade, Tanya Eby's world was unraveling. One day, overcome with grief, she cried in class — and her teacher, Mrs. Welch, wrapped Eby in a hug.

Neglected form of diabetes with unusual symptoms finally gets its own name

An unusual type of diabetes linked to malnutrition now has a name. Scientists are calling for wider recognition of the newly classified Type 5 diabetes to spur better treatments.

Prone to winter depression? Starting light therapy now can help

As daylight diminishes people can feel their mood dimming. In fact millions of U.S. adults experience seasonal affective disorder. Light therapy can help fend off winter depression, starting in the fall.

More Front Page Coverage