They went to pick cashew after the rain. Gunmen came with cattle and opened fire.

It rained overnight in Ojantele, Apa LGA, Benue State, on the night of Friday March 13. Rain knocks cashew nuts from the trees. So in the morning, women and young people from Ojantele and the neighboring communities of Asaba and Akpete did what farmers do: they went to the farm.

The gunmen arrived with a large herd of cattle. Then they started shooting.

At least 15 people were killed, according to community sources cited by Premium Times. Some accounts put the figure at 20. Police confirmed six bodies recovered and said search operations were ongoing. A girl was reportedly abducted during the attack. Several other victims remain unaccounted for.

The gap between what the community says and what the police confirm isn't unusual in Benue. The state has been absorbing attacks like this for years, and the official counts consistently lag the community counts. That lag is itself part of the story: security institutions that can't reliably count the dead in their own territory aren't going to be able to prevent the next attack either.

This was the third major attack on Benue farming communities in two weeks. On March 6, 13 people were killed in Tyungu Jam and Mbaav communities in Kwande LGA. Governor Alia condemned that one too. Security agencies were directed to act. Reinforcements were promised. Two weeks later, women gathering cashew in Apa were shot dead.

Benue is called Nigeria's food basket for a reason. It's where yam, sorghum, soybeans, and other staples come from. Cashew is a cash crop that puts money in rural households. When farmers can't go to their fields without being killed, the production drops. When production drops, prices rise. The food insecurity that's already visible in urban markets has a source. Part of it is here, in the places where growing food has become a mortal risk.

Security analysts say the attacks follow a pattern: armed groups arrive during planting or harvesting seasons, when farmers are furthest from settlements and most exposed. It isn't random. It's a pattern that repeats because nothing has stopped it from repeating.