Report: 86 dead in Nigeria as farmers, herders clash
LAGOS, NIGERIA >> Scores of people died in central Nigeria during vicious weekend clashes between mostly Muslim herders and Christian farmers, with one report citing police saying 86 people were killed. By some accounts, the growing conflict over resources has become deadlier than Nigeria’s Boko Haram extremist insurgency.
Nigeria’s president accused unnamed politicians in a statement Monday of taking advantage of the chaos ahead of next year’s elections, calling it “incredibly unfortunate.”
Dramatic footage from Jos showed angry people waving machetes and sticks and shouting at passing security forces as they weaved around overturned and burning vehicles. Smoke rose in the distance. Women and children clutching overstuffed bags piled into the back of trucks, seeking a way out.
President Muhammadu Buhari warned against reprisal attacks after the “deeply unfortunate killings across a number of communities” in central Plateau State as the military, police and counterterror units were sent to end the bloodshed.
“No efforts will be spared” to find the attackers, Buhari said.
Nigeria’s government said “scores” were killed, but did not provide an official death toll. The independent Channels Television cited a Plateau State police spokesman, Mathias Tyopev, as saying 86 people had been killed and at least 50 houses destroyed.
Mass burials began Monday amid fears that the death toll was even higher.
“Please remain calm,” said the Plateau State governor, Simon Bako Lalong, as a helicopter whirred overhead. “It is very, very, unfortunate that an incident is happening again like this.”
The deadly clashes between herders and farmers are a growing security concern in Africa’s most populous country.