Attackers armed with guns and machetes killed at least 24 people in central Nigeria’s Plateau state, residents said on Tuesday, in the latest outbreak of violence in a region long troubled by disputes over land and resources.
The attack took place on Monday night in Bin-Per village in Mangu local government area.
“We were sleeping, we heard some noises, some people in our neighbourhood were screaming,” resident Mathew Joseph told AFP.
“I looked through the window and saw some armed men approaching our house. Before they arrived, we managed to escape,” he said.
Joseph said 24 people were killed, a toll also given by another resident, Muftwan Yamput, who said two of his neighbours were killed in their home.
Local Red Cross field officer Biplang Moses confirmed the attack but did not provide a death toll. Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Plateau state has been hit by recurring violence involving ethnic Fulani herders and settled farming communities, with disputes often centred on access to land and other resources.
Competition for land in Nigeria’s Middle Belt has intensified as climate change and population growth place increasing pressure on available farmland and grazing areas.
Tensions over mineral resources, political and economic disputes, and divisions between local communities and groups seen as outsiders have also contributed to the violence.
The killings in Bin-Per followed the deaths of two herders in the area last week. A suspected reprisal attack later targeted the nearby village of Maitimbe, where several houses were burned, residents said.
Weak policing has often contributed to cycles of reprisal attacks, which can quickly spread along communal lines.
Some groups have described violence in Plateau as persecution of Christians, a characterisation rejected by the Nigerian government and independent researchers.
Also, the state has experienced deadly urban violence involving communities divided along religious and ethnic lines, with hundreds killed in previous clashes.
