Fulani Militia Kill Eleven, Including Four Police Officers, in Attack on Christian Nigerian Village
More than 200 armed members of a Fulani militia attacked Ayilamo, a farming village in Benue State, Nigeria, on the evening of September 10, killing at least seven Christian residents and four Mobile Police officers who responded to the assault. Ayilamo is about 98 percent Christian, mostly Catholic. Police fought the attackers for more than seven hours before forcing them back into the surrounding forest early the next morning. Security official Manasseh Umishi, who witnessed the attack, said the assailants were speaking Fulani while attacking residents with guns and machetes.
Local officials criticized the military for not responding alongside police. Logo County chairman Clement Kav said it was not the first time military personnel had failed to respond to an armed attack in the area. Benue State has experienced repeated violence between herding militias and farming communities in recent years, and residents said the community had faced earlier raids from militants crossing from neighboring Taraba and Nasarawa states.
