Nearly 200 people were killed by armed groups in Nigeria, Africa in the long-running conflict between herdsmen and farmers.
At least 160 people were killed and many are missing after a number of attacks by gunmen on remote villages in north-central Nigeria’s Plateau state.
Officials said the military gangs, locally called "bandits," launched "well-coordinated" attacks in "not fewer than 20 different communities" and torched houses on Saturday and Sunday. Gunfire was still heard on Monday morning.
Plateau Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, said that in Mangu local governorate alone, 15 people were buried on Monday, and authorities in Christian majority Bokkos had counted not less than 100 corpses.
“I am yet to take stock of (the deaths in) Barkin Ladi,” Mutfwan said, adding, “It has been a very terrifying Christmas for us here in Plateau."
More than 300 wounded people have reportedly been taken to hospitals.
According to Vatican News, Amnesty International's Nigeria office told The Associated Press that it has so far confirmed 140 deaths in the Christian-majority Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi areas of Plateau, based on data compiled by its workers on the ground and from local officials.
There are fears of a higher death toll as some people remain unaccounted for.
Some witnesses said it took more than 12 hours before security agencies responded to their call for help.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, though the herders from the Fulani tribe, were accused.
The bandit militias operate from bases deep in forests and raid villages to loot and kidnap residents for ransom.
A jihadi conflict has raged in northeastern Nigeria since 2009, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing around 2 million, as Boko Haram battles for supremacy with rivals linked to the so-called Islamic State group.
The Nigerian army said it has begun “clearance operations” in search of suspects, with the help of other security agencies, although arrests are rare in such attacks.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, elected this year after promising to tackle security challenges his predecessor had failed to address, instructed security agencies to “scour every stretch of the zone and apprehend the culprits,” according to a statement from his office.
He also ordered the “immediate mobilization of relief resources” for the survivors and prompt medical treatment for the wounded. (Edited from Vatican with the Source AP and other agencies)
Stats and Image Source: https://acn-mexico.org/matanza-de-casi-200-cristianos-en-navidad-en-el-centro-de-nigeria
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