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Unidentified assailants in Nigeria’s troubled Plateau state killed 14people during an ambush on Thursday as they were returning home from a weekly market, according to local inhabitants and a Red Cross representative.
The north-central region has been plagued by conflicts over shrinking land resources and assaults by armed groups referred to as “bandits,” particularly in rural areas where government presence is limited and lawlessness is prevalent.
After the ambush, two young individuals were slain in a retaliatory attack described by ethnic tensions, as reported by residents.
The attackers fired upon vehicles returning from the market in Bokkos town on Thursday evening, residents indicated, in proximity to a village known as Mangor.
Nurudeen Hussaini Magaji, the state Red Cross secretary, confirmed the death toll on Friday morning. “Amongst the dead were males, females and children,” he said.
Land utilised by farmers and herders in central Nigeria, including Plateau, is increasingly under pressure from climate change and human encroachment, leading to fierce competition for limited resources.
The majority of farmers are Christians, while most herders belong to the Fulani Muslim community. Retaliatory actions often affect individuals across ethnic divisions indiscriminately.
Issues such as land grabbing, political and economic strains between residents and those viewed as outsiders, along with a rise in radical Muslim and Christian preachers, have intensified divides in recent years.
