The state has been at the centre of a violent conflict between herders and farmers that has led to the killing of thousands of civilians and many members of the security forces in Nigeria's so-called Middle Belt going back many years. Herders, mostly from the Fulani ethnic group, move around to find food for their cattle, bringing them into conflict with the owners of farms, who say the cattle trample their crops and pollute water sources. Some of them are armed with powerful guns, saying they need to protect themselves from cattle thieves. While the farmers often blame the Fulanis for the violence, one of the community's leaders, Baba Othman Ngelzarma, told the BBC that his people were not behind the killings in Benue.