At least 25 killed in latest Nigeria armed attacks

Gunmen over the weekend killed at least 25 people in two attacks across north-central Nigeria's Benue state, local authorities told AFP news agency on Monday, the latest violence in a region known for deadly land disputes.

Attackers killed 14 people on Sunday in the community of Ankpali, said Adam Ochega, chairman of the Apa local government council, warning that "there are still some threats here and there".

Nomadic herders have long clashed with farmers in Benue over access to land and resources.

In a recent report, Amnesty International tallied 6,896 people killed over the last two years in Benue, part of central Nigeria, a mixed-religious region where such disputes often take on a communal dimension.

Repeated attacks

A police spokeswoman confirmed the attack but did not provide a toll.

In a similar attack Sunday evening on Naka village of Gwer West local government area, 11 people were killed.

"So far we have recovered 11 dead bodies and five people are confirmed injured," Gwer West council chairman Ormin Victor told AFP.

Last month, 44 people were killed in a span of four days in Gwer West.

Motives for the violence in that attack were not clear, but Victor blamed the "coordinated attacks" on Fulani cattle herders. The herders have not commented on the claims.

Competition for land

However, they often say they are also the victims of deadly attacks by farmers, land grabs and cattle poisonings.

Land used by farmers and herders in central Nigeria is coming under stress from climate change and human expansion, sparking deadly competition for increasingly limited space.

Benue has been one of the states hit hardest by such violence between nomadic herders and farmers who blame herdsmen for destroying farmland with their cattle grazing. There has been a cycle of reprisals in the herder-farmer violence.

A spate of attacks across Benue and neighbouring Plateau state left more than 150 people dead in April alone.