LAGOS, Nigeria

Seven people were killed in an early morning attack which locals blamed on herders in Benue state, Nigerian army confirmed on Sunday. 

“Our men who responded to a distress call have recovered seven bodies from Tse-Kuma community,” Adeyemi Yekini, commander of a special military squad codenamed Operation Whirl Stroke, told reporters in Makurdi, the state's capital.

On the other hand, Francis Ayaga, administrative head of Gwer West Local Government Council where the attack had taken place, claimed that at least 16 people were killed in the village while hundreds have been displaced in what he warned could spark a humanitarian crisis in the area.

Repeated clashes between farmers and herders occur in central Nigeria, resulting in multiple deaths and mass displacement.