Officials in Nigeria have said at least 25 people were killed in their homes when armed men stormed their village Monday night. Fears of reprisal are real as violence between Muslim herders and Christian farmers spirals.
Local officials say at least 25 people were murdered on Monday night by armed men who stormed the village of Bin-Per, in the Mangu local government area of Nigeria's Plateau state.
Perpetrators reportedly moved from house to house, killing residents with machetes.
Women and children accounted for most of the victims.
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Resident Muftwan Yamput told France's AFP news agency that he and his family "survived by a whisker."
"But," he added, "my neighbors were attacked. Two people were killed in their house."
Cycle of reprisals in Nigeria attacks
Monday night's massacre followed the killing of two herders last week.
Those were in turn followed by a suspected reprisal targeting the nearby village of Maitimbe, where multiple houses were torched.
The Mwaghavul Youth Movement, a local advocacy group, has accused authorities of failing to protect vulnerable communities.
"The recurring destruction of communities, killing of innocent citizens, burning of homes and destruction of farmlands cannot continue to be treated as ordinary incidents," said the group's spokesperson on Sunday while calling for a review of security in the area.
Matthew Kwarpo, a representative in the Plateau state assembly, called on authorities to "deploy proactive measures in preventing or mitigating unnecessary attacks before they occur," especially in Mangu.
"The incident underscores the urgent need for concerted efforts to address the underlying grievances and prevent further escalation of violence in the affected communities," said Kwarpo.
Amnesty says President Tinubu not fulfilling promise to 'enhance security'
The incidents of the last week are the continuation of years of spiraling violence between nomadic Muslim ethnic Fulani herders and mainly Christian farmers over access to increasingly scarce land and resources in central Nigeria's Middle Belt region.
Land grabbing over mineral and mining resources, political and economic tensions between locals and outsiders, and the influx of hardline Muslim and Christian preachers have all fueled divisions.
Plateau has also seen hundreds killed in urban riots between religious groups in recent years.
In May 2025, rights group Amnesty International (AI) estimated that at least 2,630 people had been killed in Plateau state alone in the two years since President Bola Tinubu had taken office on the promise of enhancing security.
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The group said authorities had instead failed "to protect the rights to life, physical integrity, liberty and the security of tens of thousands of people across the country."
Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah
