Dozens killed in Nigerian clashes

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria

At least 33 people, including mostly ethnic Fulani women and children, have been killed in fresh violence between herdsmen and farmers in northwestern Nigeria, police said on Wednesday.

A series of clashes took place in the Kajuru local government area of northwestern Kaduna province.

Kaduna police commissioner Agyole Abeh said the victims included 27 Fulani and six persons from the local community, adding the violence started on July 11 following the killing of a young Fulani herder and a reprisal that claimed six lives.

“The youths from the area immediately mobilized and went into the bush attacking and killing, maiming and burning any Fulani settlement within their sight,” Abeh told a news briefing on Wednesday.

“The police were contacted and immediately mobilized and went to the scene, but the youths had already fled into the surrounding bushes leaving behind a death toll of 26 Fulanis ... mostly women and children,” he added.

Abeh said security in the area had been tightened while police investigated the violence.

The Kajuru violence is the latest in long-running clashes between herdsmen and farmers across Nigeria’s agrarian communities. Herdsmen and local farmers fight over grazing and farming rights as climate change ravages much of the region.