Attackers in Nigeria killed at least 27 people. Gunmen belonging to the Sankera regional militia attacked the villages of Adogo and Akpuuna in the central west African country’s Benue state on Friday and Saturday, local council leader Kartyo Tyoumbur said. Other people were injured and houses were set on fire. The soldiers advanced against the combatants.
In the center and north of the most populous country in Africa, with about 220 million inhabitants, attacks by bandits are repeated, looting villages, stealing livestock and killing and kidnapping people. In the northeast of the country, on the other hand, Islamic terrorist groups such as Boko Haram often carry out attacks.
The Sankera militia had been known locally for crimes such as murder, kidnapping, robbery and cattle rustling a few years earlier. Authorities struck a peace deal with the group in 2020, but soldiers shot and killed their leader, prompting them to take up arms again.