At least 16 people were killed in central Nigeria’s Plateau state, where deadly clashes between farmers and herders broke out again, the army said on Thursday.
Northwest and central Nigeria are regularly the scene of tensions and deadly conflicts over the exploitation of land and water resources between farming and pastoral communities.
In the latest violence on Tuesday, six members of a local peasant self-defense group in Riyom district were killed by gunmen, while ten others were killed in an attack in Mangu region, an army spokesman said.
“Six people died in Riyom,” Major Ishaku Takwa told AFP on Wednesday. “Another attack occurred in some communities in Mangu, killing 10 people.”
Bala Fwangje, local MP for Mangu South, said 14 people had been killed in the area.
“We learned that 14 people were killed, homes destroyed and property burned. I haven’t received all the details yet,” Fwangje said.
Since May, violence between Berom farming communities and Fulani pastoralist communities in Riyom, Barkin Ladi and Mangu regions has left more than 200 people dead.
The string of murders followed by reprisals and the lack of an effective judiciary have fueled the rise of greater crime in the region, with gangs leading expeditions into villages, killing dozens of residents and carrying out kidnappings for ransom.
These abuses are one of the many security challenges facing President Bola Tinubu at the helm of Africa’s most populous country and the continent’s largest economy.