At least 25 people were killed in an overnight attack on a village in Nigeria’s central Plateau state, local officials and residents said on Tuesday, in violence that has heightened fears of violent reprisals in the restive region.
Plateau police spokesperson Alfred Alabo told Reuters officers were deploying to the area and would issue a statement after assessing the situation.
Plateau state communities have in the past seen tensions between farming communities and herders which often spiral into retaliatory violence, leaving people dead, displaced and homeless.
Lemun Le’an Iliya, a councillor representing the area, said 23 people were killed in the attack and another victim later died in hospital.
A local group, the Mwaghavul Youth Movement, called on authorities to ramp up efforts to protect vulnerable communities and to review security operations in the area.
“The recurring destruction of communities, killing of innocent citizens, burning of homes and destruction of farmlands cannot continue to be treated as ordinary incidents,” spokesperson Tubwot Joël Sunday said.
Plateau, in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, has long been plagued by violence linked to disputes over land, grazing rights and resources, often compounded by ethnic divisions.
