On the night of June 14, unidentified armed assailants with suspected ties to herder communities brutally attacked members of the Yelewata community in Nigeria’s Benue state, reportedly killing at least 59 people and possibly more than 100.
The attack is the latest reminder of just how badly the Nigerian government is failing to protect communities from violence.
Benue is among Nigeria’s North Central states that are plagued by recurring intercommunal violence, largely driven by longstanding tensions between nomadic herders and mostly sedentary farming communities. They fight over access to and control of land, water, and other natural resources.
Forty-two people were reportedly killed in a series of attacks across Benue state in May. In April, 56 people were reportedly killed by herders during the Easter period. Nobody has been arrested or prosecuted for these attacks.
Human Rights Watch collected testimonies from people living through this ongoing violence.
>> “I am weak, I am broken, and my heart is bleeding”
History is repeating itself. In 2013, Human Rights Watch put out a report analyzing the decades-long cycles of violence in two other North Central Nigerian states, Kaduna and Plateau. As in Benue, these attacks largely persisted due to the government’s failure to hold attackers accountable.
