20 farmers die in attack on Nigeria mosque

Herders blamed for bloody siege in land dispute

GUNMEN believed to be Fulani cattle herders killed 20 farmers praying inside a mosque over a land dispute in central Nigeria. The attackers opened fire on the worshippers inside the mosque during morning prayers and killed all 20 worshippers, Niger state police spokesman Bala Elkana said.

“They later shot sporadically on the village, injuring eight people,” he said.

The shooting was a revenge attack after farmers killed a herder in a clash days earlier.

The herders, who were raising cattle and farming, had settled near Etogi village on the condition that they would give a portion of their harvest to the community every season.

But the herders reneged on the agreement this year, refusing to pay the tax and instead claiming the land belonged to them, according to the police.

“This led to a clash in which one herder was killed. The [latest] attack was to avenge the death,” Elkana said.

Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the violence.

Deadly clashes between herders and farmers in Nigeria over land and water rights are frequent, especially in the Middle Belt region, which is considered the country’s agricultural heartland.

The resource conflict has been exacerbated in some areas by ethnic and religious tensions, with farming communities often Christian and herders Muslim.

Sparse vegetation in the north, along with the gradual encroachment of the desert, has forced largely nomadic herders to move south in search of food for their cattle.

That has led to clashes with farming communities over competition for limited resources.

Efforts by authorities to end hostilities between the two sides have not been successful. Last year, the Nigerian government announced a plan to create grazing reserves for herders across the country to relieve tensions, but farming communities rejected the plan.

Meanwhile, Boko Haram jihadists have killed six farmers who were working on their land near the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri.

Gunmen on motorcycles attacked a group preparing fields for the rainy season outside the village of Amrawa, 16km from the Borno State capital, on Saturday.

“The gunmen attacked the farmers with machetes as they were clearing their farms in preparation for the rains which start in a few days,” Ibrahim Liman, a civilian militia member, said.

“They seized six farmers and slaughtered them while the rest fled.”

Liman’s account was supported by Masida Bunu and Rahis Musa, who live in the village.

Some residents raised the alarm and the militia pursued the attackers to the nearby village of Sojori.

“The vigilantes fought the terrorists and killed four, while the rest fled,” Liman said.

At least 20 000 people have been killed and more than 2.6 million left homeless in northeast Nigeria since the start of Boko Haram’s Islamist insurgency in 2009.

Nigeria’s government and military maintain that the jihadists are a spent force, but sporadic attacks and suicide bombings pose a constant threat, particularly in remote areas.

Saturday’s attack underscored the vulnerability of rural communities even as the authorities are encouraging displaced people to return home and rebuild their lives.

Those who have returned to their hometowns have found themselves forced into makeshift camps, with water shortages and lack of sanitation increasing the risk of disease.