Curfew in Nigerian state after surge in deadly violence

Nigerian officials declared a curfew on Tuesday in parts of a north-central Nigerian state after more deadly attacks in the latest in a recent surge in intercommunal violence. Plateau State governor Caleb Mutfwang ordered the 24-hour lockdown in Mangu local government district to try to control deteriorating security, his spokesman said in a statement. “Only persons on essential duties are allowed to move within the local government area until further notice,” it said.

Local resident Joseph Moses told AFP that dozens of homes, places of worship and other buildings had been set on fire during the violence. Officials gave no toll for the latest attack.

But a local imam Abdullahi Maisaje told AFP at least six people had been killed in his community. “I cannot tell you the exact number of deaths because in some other communities reports are saying people have died,” he said by telephone.

Brigadier General Gakji Shipi, a special security advisor to the governor, said the violence escalated from a dispute between a Fulani Muslim herder and another local man over cattle grazing and the roadway. But he did not give any toll for the violence.

Sitting on the division between Nigeria’s mostly Muslim north and the predominantly Christian south, Plateau often faces outbreaks in ethnic and religious tensions. Over Christmas, nearly 200 people were killed after gunmen raided mostly Christian villages in Bokkos and Barkin Ladi local areas of Plateau. Thousands of people were also forced from their homes.

The coalition of Muslim herders’ groups said some of their communities were also affected by the Christmas violence. Clashes in Nigeria’s northwest and north-central states have their roots in tensions over land between nomadic herders and pastoral farmers.

Competition for natural resources, intensified by rapid population growth and climate pressures, has spiraled into broader criminality. Heavily armed gangs known locally as bandits raid villages especially in the northwest states, looting and kidnapping for ransom.

Rural villages often form self-defense vigilante groups to protect themselves and their farms from raids. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has made improving security a priority since coming to office last year, as he seeks to encourage foreign investment in Africa’s most populous country.