JOS (Nigeria), June 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two fresh attacks have killed 15 people in Nigeria’s central Plateau state, local officials said, days after President Bola Tinubu ordered a crackdown on violence in the region.
The violence comes a week after at least 20 other people were killed in Plateau’s Mangu local government area.
Ethnic Fulani nomadic Muslim herders in the state have long clashed with settled farmers, many of whom are Christian, over access to land and resources.
Attacks in the region often fall across ethnic and religious lines, leading to sectarian reprisals.
“I can confirm that we have 10 people killed, in Jwangur village. We are now doing the burial,” the chairman of the Bokkos local government council, Amalau Samuel, said via telephone.
The attackers stormed the area on Thursday night and opened fire, he said.
A survivor from a distant house said they heard gunshots around midnight.
“We were sleeping when we heard gunshots and in the morning 10 people were discovered dead,” Maren Joseph said.
A separate attack on Thursday night killed five people in the Mangu area neighbouring Bokkos, said Emmanuel Bala, chairman of the local government council.
“Five people were killed on their farms by bandits suspected to be fleeing from Benue state,” where more than 100 people were killed last week, Bala said, adding that the “killers used knives to slaughter the victims”.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday ordered security agencies to crack down on the violence raging in the region. — NNN-AGENCIES
