At least 40 killed in attack by alleged so-called pastors in Nigeria

Plink 40 people, including children, were killed in an attack perpetrated by armed men and attributed to pastors of the so-called ethnic group in eastern Nigeria, in Taraba state, according to local sources and Amnesty International (AI).

As he advanced to the Spanish agency EF Musa Abdullah, a local community leader, more than 50 armed men raided the village of Binnari on Friday in the town of Karim Lamido, and began firing.

“ The Fulani attacked the village from two directions shortly after Friday's prayer. They shot at all those who crossed their path,” Abdullah said.

According to the community leader, “to date 42 bodies have been recovered and searches continue, because some people are still missing”, while some injured are receiving medical care.

The attackers also raided shops and burned down houses.

“ Many people fled their homes after the attacks. They left the village practically in ruins,” he added.

Another resident, named Aminu Yohanna, estimated 40 deaths and explained to EFE that among the victims there are women and children.

“There are corpses everywhere. Many were captured before being shot, while others were shot when trying to escape,” Yohanna said.

“We don’t know what the massacres are about. The guy came to the village from the state of Plateau. We do not know what we did wrong”, lamented the resident.

On Saturday, the Nigerian delegation of the Amnesty International Human Rights Organization (AI) confirmed the facts.

“ In addition to killing people indiscriminately, armed men also burned down food, homes, shops and motorcycles. The community is now full of corpses, some of them charred until they become unrecognizable, while families report that many people are still missing,” said the NGO on social network X.

Taraba Police also confirmed the assault, but initially estimated the number of deaths in 10 in a press release and indicated that their forces had been deployed to the area without providing details about the alleged perpetrators.

Taraba and other states are located in the zone that divides the north and south of the country, a territory that has been the scene of confrontations by natural resources and ethnic and religious tensions.

In this area there is a conflict between pastors of the so-called so-called ethnic group — mainly Muslims — who seek pasture for their livestock, and farmers — mostly Christians, but also Muslims or animists — who need arable land.

This is in addition to the fact that several states in central and northwest Nigeria suffer constant incursions of “bandits”, a term used in the country to refer to criminal gangs committing mass assaults and kidnappings to demand ransoms, and that authorities sometimes classify as “terrorists”.