At least 48 people have been killed in escalating clashes between Fulani herders and the Kamuku ethnic group in Tegina, Niger State, with machete-wielding attackers killing 42 mostly women, children and elderly villagers before a retaliatory strike claimed six herders’ lives.
Tegina woke up to bloodshed on Wednesday, and by the time the dust settled, at least 48 people were dead.
Residents told PREMIUM TIMES that violence broke out early Wednesday morning when machete-wielding herders stormed a Kamuku community in Tegina, a town in the Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, killing 42 people — mostly women, children and the elderly.
Graphic images shared with our reporter showed victims who had been hacked to death or burned, painting a grim picture of the scale of the attack.
Resident Ibrahim Musa said many people living on the outskirts of Tegina — an area frequently targeted by such attacks — are now fleeing into the town centre for safety. He added that in a retaliatory strike, members of the Kamuku group killed about six herders working on a nearby plantation.
Most of the initial victims belonged to an extended family from the Kamuku tribe. The attackers reportedly didn’t stop at killing — they also burnt down houses, silos, and vehicles belonging to the family.
Niger State Police spokesperson, Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the incident, saying officers were still compiling casualty figures and would provide updates once available.
How it all started
This isn’t a sudden eruption — it’s the latest chapter in tensions that trace back to May. The trouble began after Sani Musa, senator representing Niger East District, made a monetary donation meant for the community. The funds were distributed through a Fulani leader, Muhammed Shehu.
Shortly after, Shehu was found dead, his body discovered near an office used by a local vigilante group dominated by the Kamuku people. Herders accused the vigilantes of killing Shehu over the money and reportedly began attacking Kamuku people on sight. Herders also invaded a local market, attacking vigilantes and disrupting trade. PREMIUM TIMES reported at the time that eight bodies from both sides were buried following that initial round of violence in May.
A town no stranger to crisis
Tegina sits at the heart of Nigeria’s North-central security crisis, long plagued by bandit attacks and mass abductions. In May 2021, 136 children were kidnapped from the Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School in Tegina, while 27 students were abducted from Government Science College in nearby Kagara just three months earlier.
Before all this, Fulani herders and Kamuku farmers in Tegina shared a cordial, mutually beneficial relationship. But since May, tit-for-tat attacks have shattered that bond — and Wednesday’s bloodshed suggests things are only getting worse.
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