Forty-five farmers were killed in central Nigeria, during attacks carried out by Fulani herders between Friday and Sunday in several villages in retaliation for the death of one of their own, according to a new report communicated by the presidency.
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"President Muhammadu Buhari expressed his sadness after the heartbreaking murder of 45 farmers and the numerous injuries recorded after the resumption of hostilities in the areas of Lafia, Obi and Awe, in the state of Nasarawa,"
the statement said. The presidency did not give details of the circumstances of the attacks, but earlier today local police claimed that between Friday and Sunday, armed Fulani attacked several rural villages mostly inhabited by farmers from the group. community in this central state of Nigeria. These Fulani acted in retaliation after the death of one of their own, killed, according to them, by tiv farmers, according to Nasarawa police spokesman Ramhan Nansel, who earlier in the day gave a toll of 8 dead.
"We received complaints about the murder of a Fulani herder and while we were investigating, a retaliatory attack was carried out in the village of Hangara and in that of Kwayero,"
the spokesperson said. The head of an association representing the Tiv, Peter Ahemba, assured AFP that the toll of these attacks was much heavier.
"We found the bodies of more than 20 people in 12 villages, located in the districts of Lafia, Obi and Awe, where around 5,000 people fled"
, said Peter Ahemba.
He added that many people were still missing and that it was not immediately possible to know if they were still alive.
Deadly clashes between nomadic or semi-nomadic herders and sedentary farmers, linked to access to land and resources, such as water, are frequent in central Nigeria.
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These conflicts have taken on a communal and religious turn in recent years, most of the pastoralists being Fulani Muslims and the farmers predominantly Christian.
The rifts between these communities date back more than a century, but they have been worsened recently by drought and booming demographics that have both changed the layout of transhumance routes and pushed farmers to expand and grow. settle on new, less fertile land.
In response to the violence, armed groups were formed to defend the various communities.
Some have gradually turned into criminal gangs, which attack villages, kill their inhabitants, loot and burn down houses.