At least 30 people have been killed in renewed violence in the Plateau region of north-central Nigeria, where clashes between Muslim herders and Christian farming communities have erupted since Christmas, a community association and humanitarian source said on Thursday local.
Despite the 24-hour curfew imposed on Tuesday in the local Mangu district, schools, places of worship and homes were burned and ransacked in fresh attacks, community leaders said.
The Mwaghavul Development Association, an organization bringing together members of the Mwaghavul ethnic group, mainly Christians, accused Muslim Fulani (Fulani) herders of having attacked the village of Kwahaslalek and killed
"around 30 people"
.
This toll was confirmed by a local relief official and a humanitarian source on the ground, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.
Spokespersons for the police and army did not immediately respond to AFP's requests for confirmation.
“Two camps for displaced people have been set up in the town of Mangu, for around 1,500 people
,” Nurudeen Husaini Magaji, local president of the Nigerian Red Cross, told AFP.
Total balance still unknown
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.
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.
Jama'atu Nasril Islam, a Muslim community organization, also said clashes broke out between Tuesday and Wednesday in the town of Mangu and places of worship and faith-based schools were attacked.
The number of deaths in this attack is not yet known.
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.
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.