Central Nigeria again mourned by violence: despite the intervention of the security forces, at least one hundred people lost their lives in intercommunal clashes in the center of the country.
Since Monday evening, May 15, attacks by armed men on several villages in Mangu district (Plateau State) "have killed more than 100 people," district representative Daput Minister Daniel and local MP Solomon Maren told AFP on Friday.
Local police said Friday afternoon, May 19, they had restored calm to these villages, and that at least 87 bodies had been found, while more than 40 wounded were currently being treated in three medical centers.
"The security presence has been intensified in and around the district to restore peace and calm," police said in a statement, adding that seven people had been arrested.
The day before, she had already claimed to have restored calm, but several local sources had assured that the violence persisted.
Heightened tensions, deadly conflicts
The north-western and central regions of Nigeria are regularly the scene of deadly tensions and conflicts over the exploitation of land and water resources between farming and herder communities, aggravated in recent years by demographic pressure and climate change.
The chain of killings followed by reprisals and the lack of effective justice have given rise to broader criminality in the region, with gangs carrying out targeted expeditions into villages, killing dozens of residents, looting and kidnapping for ransom.
"So far, attacks and burning of houses have been reported in many places," Daput Minister Daniel, the local official, said Friday morning.
"We need more security men, from the army and the air force, to help us drive out the attackers," he added, adding that more residents were fleeing their homes and villages.
"Houses have been burned, people are now scattered everywhere, some are in churches, mosques and other safe places."
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said on Thursday (May 18th) that more than 3,000 people had been displaced and hundreds of homes destroyed.
The government of Plateau State has so far given no precise assessment, evoking only, in a statement in the morning, "many deaths" in the violence.
Governor Simon Lalong had called an emergency meeting the previous day Thursday night to discuss the attacks and said security forces would maintain a presence on the ground to stem further violence, according to the statement.
With AFP
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