At least 51 people were killed by gunmen in the early hours of Monday in Plateau state, located in Nigeria’s northern region, according to local residents and Amnesty International. This attack comes just two weeks after violent clashes in another part of the state left dozens dead.
The national emergency agency had reported last week that gunmen killed at least 52 people and displaced nearly 2,000 others over several days of violence in Plateau, an area with a long history of tension between farmers and cattle herders.
On Monday, residents confirmed that 51 bodies were found in the Zikke and Kimakpa villages, situated in Plateau’s Bassa district. Several others were also reportedly injured. The identity and motive of the attackers remain unclear.
“A mass burial is currently taking place, and there is widespread outrage in the community,” said Joseph Chudu Yonkpa, a local resident. He added that the gunmen were suspected to be cattle herders.
The police have not yet responded to requests for comment.
Albert Garba Samuel, a spokesperson for the Jere Nation Youths Development Association, condemned the violence, stating, “No community should ever have to endure such trauma, bloodshed, and destruction.”
Amnesty International Nigeria also reported that the gunmen set homes ablaze and looted property. The organization called for an immediate investigation into the security lapses that allowed such a horrific attack to occur, noting the attack’s proximity to the previous killings two weeks ago.
Plateau state is located in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, an ethnically and religiously diverse region, where inter-communal violence has claimed hundreds of lives in recent years. While the violence is often framed as an ethnic and religious conflict between Muslim herders and predominantly Christian farmers, underlying factors such as climate change and the expansion of agriculture, which reduces grazing land, also play significant roles in the ongoing crisis.
