2024-01-25 16:47:52
Two attacks in north-central Nigeria between Tuesday and Wednesday killed 55 people, according to two community leaders and a report from the Nigerian Red Cross seen by AFP on Thursday.
Despite a curfew imposed on Tuesday in the local Mangu district, schools, places of worship and homes were burned and ransacked in both attacks, community leaders said.
The Mwaghavul Development Association, an organization of members of the predominantly Christian Mwaghavul ethnic group, has accused Fulani Muslim herders of attacking the village of Kwahaslalek and killing “around thirty people”.
The governor of Plateau announced the curfew on Tuesday after a new clash that authorities attributed to a dispute between a herder moving his cattle and other residents using the road. The second attack took place in the town of Mangu also between Tuesday and Wednesday.
Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), a Muslim community organization, said religious places of worship and schools had been attacked.
“We are continuing our search with the support of the Red Cross to see if we can still find the dead, because many people have disappeared”, he added. This assessment was confirmed by another JNI official, Salim Musa.
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Recurring attacks
Plateau State, located on the dividing line between Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north and the predominantly Christian south, is a hotbed of intercommunal violence.
Tensions have soared since nearly 200 people were killed over Christmas in raids on predominantly Christian villages.
Clashes in Nigeria’s northwest and north-central states are rooted in communal tensions over land use between nomadic herders and sedentary farmers. But these types of attacks have escalated into broader criminality.
Heavily armed gangs, known locally as bandits, attack villages, pillaging and kidnapping for ransoms. At Christmas, nearly 200 people were killed in attacks which affected around twenty villages in the districts of Bokkos and Barkin Ladi, neighboring that of Mangu.
These massacres caused turmoil in the country but also within the international community. Since then, the region has been the subject of recurring attacks, causing the displacement of thousands of people.
Since coming to power in May, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said the fight against insecurity is a priority, particularly with a view to attracting foreign investment to the country.
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