Thousands displaced, 85 people killed in central Nigeria clashes

ABUJA More than 3,000 people have been displaced in central Nigeria after at least 85 people were killed in ongoing clashes between herders and farmers, officials said on Thursday.

The violence erupted on Monday, with an initial death toll of 30, in several villages of Plateau State, an area which has struggled with ethnic and religious tensions for years.

Several villages in the Mangu district of Plateau state were still caught up in the violence on Thursday, with residents fleeing, according to local sources and witnesses.

The crisis is just one of the many security challenges facing President-elect Bola Tinubu, who takes the helm of Africa's most populous nation later this month.

It was unclear what triggered this week's attacks in Mangu but tit-for-tat killings between herders and farmers often spiral into village raids by heavily armed gangs.

"Eighty-five bodies (were) recovered," the chairman of the local government council Daput Minister Daniel told AFP.

Joseph Gwankat, a community leader from the local Mwaghavul Development Association, gave the same toll.

A search and rescue team "discovered 85 dead bodies," he said.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said thousands of people were displaced and hundreds of houses destroyed as a result of the violence.

"We got a total number of 3,683 (people) displaced," Eugene Nyelong, regional coordinator at NEMA, told AFP, saying that emergency relief was on its way to those in need.

More than 720 houses were either partially or completely destroyed, he added.

The number of people injured was still unclear as of Thursday.

Gwankat, the community leader, said that 57 injured people were being treated in hospital while Nyelong from NEMA said an estimated 216 people had been injured in the attacks.

Police said that five people had been arrested in connection with the violence.

"Heavy security presence has been deployed," police spokesman Alfred Alabo said. "So far calm has been restored to the general area."

A lawmaker representing Mangu and neighbouring Bokkos in the house of representatives said however that there were still tensions in the area.

"There were gunshots up to about two hours ago. People are running for their lives," Solomon Maren told AFP early afternoon on Thursday.