Gunman attack in north-central Nigeria: death toll climbs to 150

The death toll from an attack by gunmen over the weekend in north-central Nigeria has climbed to 150, survivors said Monday as the villagers were still digging through burned homes, counting their dead and looking for dozens of people still missing.

Assailants stormed Benue state’s Yelewata community late on Friday night, opening fire on villagers who were asleep and setting their homes ablaze, survivors and the local farmers union said.

Many of those killed were sheltering in a local market after fleeing violence in other parts of the state.

Matthew Nlan said the shootings "lasted for more than five hours." "They burnt some of our community members in stores there; there are some stores that are housing more than 50 persons," he said. "All were burnt down. People slaughtered here, others burnt to ashes."

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the killings, but such attacks are common in Nigeria’s northern region where local herders and farmers often clash over limited access to land and water.

The prolonged conflict has become deadlier in recent years, with authorities and analysts warning that more herdsmen are taking up arms.

The farmers accuse the herders, mostly of Fulani origin, of grazing their livestock on their farms and destroying their produce.

The herders insist that the lands are grazing routes that were first backed by law in 1965, five years after the country gained its independence.