Gunmen kill 14 villagers in northcentral Nigeria

By CHINEDU ASADU
Associated Press

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian authorities say gunmen have killed 14 people in attacks targeting two communities in the country’s northern region. The top security official in Benue state says the attackers opened fire Wednesday night on villagers in two communities, killing 14 people and “seriously” wounding 15 others. The official says the attackers were “Fulani herdsmen,” a group of mostly young pastoralists from the Fulani tribe caught up in Nigeria’s conflict between host communities and herdsmen over limited access to water and land. ” Such deadly attacks have continued in Nigeria’s middle belt and central regions, sometimes in the form of clashes between local communities and the herdsmen.