At least 56 people have lost their lives following two coordinated assaults allegedly carried out by suspected nomadic herders in central Nigeria's Benue State earlier this week.

The governor's office issued a sharp update to its initial report of 17 fatalities on Saturday. According to a government spokesperson, the death toll may increase as emergency crews continue their search and recovery operations.

Police representative Anene Sewuese Catherine stated on Friday that “a large group of suspected militia stormed” a section of Benue State overnight. The attack is part of a growing wave of violence between herders and agriculturists, a conflict that has already resulted in hundreds of deaths in recent years.

Security officers were dispatched, but as they pushed back the infiltrators “in the early morning hours today, the attackers opened random fire on unsuspecting locals,” killing five individuals in the Ukum area of Benue State.

Authorities confirmed a second assault in Logo, roughly 70 kilometers from the initial attack site.

“Regrettably, a simultaneous and unexpected raid was launched” in a nearby community, where 12 lives were lost before law enforcement could intervene, the police spokesperson added.

These incidents took place just two days after another deadly ambush in Otukpo claimed 11 lives, and less than a week after a brutal attack in Plateau State left over 50 people dead.

According to the analytics group SBM Intelligence, since 2019, the ongoing rivalry between nomadic cattle herders and farming groups has caused more than 500 deaths and displaced around 2.2 million people in the area.

While these clashes often involve Muslim Fulani herders and Christian farmers from the Berom and Irigwe communities, experts suggest that ethnic or religious distinctions are not the root cause.

Researchers instead point to environmental change and a shortage of grazing land as main contributors to the growing conflict between herders and farmers, affecting communities regardless of their background.

This turmoil is also affecting crop production, disrupting food distribution from north-central Nigeria, an area vital to the country's agriculture.