Local government officials reported on Monday that armed groups killed at least 160 people in a series of attacks on villages in central Nigeria.
The death toll increased dramatically from the initial figure given by the army on Sunday evening of 16 dead in a region plagued for years by religious and ethnic strife.
“As many as 113 persons have been confirmed killed as Saturday hostilities persisted to early hours of Monday”, said Monday Kassah, head of the local government in Bokkos, Plateau State.
Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang condemned the violence as barbaric, brutal, and unjustified.
Bandit militias have long terrorized Northwest and central Nigeria, operating from deep in forests and raiding villages to pillage and kidnap citizens for ransom.
Competition for natural resources between nomadic herders and farmers has heightened social tensions and sparked violence, exacerbated by fast population growth and climate pressures.
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