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Gunmen kill 13 in central Nigeria attack
JOS, Nigeria, Jan 27, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Unknown gunmen have killed 13
people in an attack in central Nigeria, the police said Monday, in an area
known for ethnic clashes.
A local resident said the assailants opened fire late Sunday on a bar
where people were drinking beer in the village of Kwatas, 80 kilometres (50
miles) south of the city of Jos.
“Thirteen persons lost their lives while five persons were critically
injured and are receiving treatment,” regional police spokesman Ubah Agaba
said.
The reasons for the attack were not immediately clear.
Central Plateau state is part of Nigeria’s so-called middle-belt that
divides the mainly-Muslim north from the predominantly Christian south.
Deadly clashes between nomadic Fulani herders and farmers over land,
grazing and water have plagued the area for years.
Local resident Usman Hardo said that some hamlets where Fulani live were
burnt down following the attack.
State governor Simon Lalong said his “heart again bleeds” for the victims
of the latest killings as he called on the security forces to find those
responsible.
“We do not need another circle of bloodshed,” he said in a statement.
Aid group Mercy Corps said in May last year that violence between farmers
and pastoralists in Nigeria had “contributed to more than 7,000 deaths in the
past five years”.
Attacks in remote areas often go unreported but the authorities in Plateau
state insist the bloodshed has decreased following reconciliation efforts
between the communities.
Gunmen on January 8 killed 12 people in a village some 25 kilometres away
from the scene of the latest incident.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 2218 hrs