North-central Nigeria has been plagued by fights for control over water and land between nomadic herders and rural farmers. The violence has killed hundreds in the region so far this year. This Wednesday, armed men killed at least 13 farmers during an attack in north-central Nigeria, the News Agency AP reported. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the killings.
Akilu Isyaku, a local government official, told the local radio station Crystal FM that herders and kidnappers are suspected in the attack. He suggested the farmers were killed for providing information to intelligence agencies about the movements of the gunmen. Once armed with sticks, the two sides now fight with guns that have been smuggled into the country. Both accuse the government of injustice and marginalization, but the clashes have also taken on a religious dimension, giving rise to militias that side with the herders, who are primarily Muslim, or the farmers from Christian communities.
