11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

Ethnic conflict along the border of Benue and Taraba State forced hundreds of persons to flee from their homes in summer 2007 ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 23719]

"Ethnic conflict along the Benue State and Taraba State border resulted in the displacement of hundreds of persons in July and August as they fled their homes to avoid further persecution in the decades old tribal feud over farmland and political power. The governors of Benue and Taraba states held several "peace summits" with local leaders and tribal chiefs that helped subdue the violence, but most of those displaced had not returned home by year's end."

Document(s): Open document

25.07.2007 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Benue and Taraba: Villagers are fleeing border areas between states in central Nigeria after an upsurge of deadly clashes between ethnic Tiv and Kuteb communities over a protracted land dispute, residents and officials say ("Villagers flee communal fighting in central region") [ID 20965]

Document(s): Open document

08.03.2006 - Source: US Department of State

19-year-old Suleiyol Hiikyaa shot dead by police ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2005") [#46036],  [ID 15668]

"On occasion police were reprimanded for the use of excessive force. For example on February 20, police in Makurdi, Benue State, shot and killed 19-year-old Suleiyol Hiikyaa, a passenger in an automobile driven by her boyfriend. The couple was allegedly having sex in the vehicle when police became suspicious that the two were armed robbers and opened fire. All four policemen involved were dismissed from the force, and the policeman who fired the shot that killed Hiikyaa was charged with manslaughter."

Document(s): Open document

08.03.2006 - Source: US Department of State

Bus driver who could not pay a bribe was shot dead by a policeman ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2005") [#46036],  [ID 15669]

"On March 2, a policeman in Makurdi, Benue State, shot and killed a commercial bus driver when the driver could not pay a $0.15 (20 naira) bribe. Angered by this killing and the February 20 killing of Suleiyol Hiikyaa, members of the community burned a police station, blocked roads, burned cars, severely beat an assistant inspector-general of police, and reportedly killed at least three policemen. The policeman who shot the bus driver confessed to the killing, claiming he was drunk at the time. He was dismissed from the force and charged with murder. His trial had not begun by year's end."

Document(s): Open document

08.03.2006 - Source: US Department of State

An estimated 10 to 20 persons were killed in interethnic fighting ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2005") [#46036],  [ID 17443]

"In April in eastern Benue State, the site of numerous communal clashes in the past, an estimated 10 to 20 persons were killed in fighting between ethnic Tivs and Fulanis, reportedly sparked by the rape of a Tiv girl by a Fulani cattle herder. Many Fulanis fled into neighboring Taraba State. The state police command deployed additional mobile policemen to the area, preventing further violence."

Document(s): Open document