Nigeria: Over 140 people killed in Christmas Eve attacks on remote villages

By Linda Bordoni

At least 140 people were killed and others are missing after a series of attacks by gunmen on remote villages in north-central Nigeria’s Plateau state.

Officials and survivors confirmed the Christmas Eve attacks and blamed the killings on the farmer-herder crisis in the West African nation.

They 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.

A terrifying Christmas

Plateau Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, said that in Mangu local governorate alone, 15 people were buried on Monday, and authorities in 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.

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.

Criminality, climate change, social tensions

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 blame fell on herders from the Fulani tribe, who have been accused of carrying out such mass killings across the northwest and central regions.

The bandit militias operate from bases deep in forests and raid villages to loot and kidnap residents for ransom.

Competition for natural resources between nomadic herders and farmers, intensified by rapid population growth and climate pressures, has also exacerbated social tensions and sparked violence.

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.

Government response

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. (Source AP and other agencies)