More than 150 people were killed over the weekend in Plateau State in central Nigeria; the region's governor, Caleb Mutfwang, vowed on Tuesday to bring the perpetrators, whom he referred to as ‘bandits’, to justice.
While local police told the media on Tuesday that the attacks had taken place in 15 communities in the Bokkos and Barkin Ladi Local Government areas, Governor Mutfwang said at least 17 villages were targeted.
About 221 houses and eight vehicles were also set on fire during the Christmas Eve assaults by "gunmen," Nigeria’s Punch newspaper reported, citing police.
Monday Kassah, the chairman of the Bokkos local government, had previously reported that 113 bodies had been recovered from the attacked villages. Over 300 others were injured and being treated in hospitals. However, the head of a local group in the area, Community Peace Observers, told The Punch newspaper on Wednesday that over 150 people had been killed.
In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), Governor Mutfwang called the “unprovoked” attacks “disheartening,” saying it was carried out by "evildoers" during a season meant for peace, laughter, and joy.
“This particular set of attacks was well-coordinated, with heavy weapons. The security agencies must do their work to be able to identify who are the sponsors of these attacks. We will push them to be able to unravel all those responsible for these attacks,” he stated.
Violent conflicts are common in Plateau, one of Nigeria's ethnically and religiously diverse hinterland states, where herders and farmers frequently clash over land and agricultural resources. Cattlemen are mostly accused of raiding crop fields with their livestock. More than 100 people were killed in May when violence erupted between farmers and herders in the region's Mangu local government area.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu also strongly condemned the weekend's "heinous and brutal attacks" in the region, directing security forces to "immediately move in, scour every part of the zone, and apprehend the culprits responsible for these atrocities."
“I have ordered the immediate mobilization of relief resources for the surviving victims of these primitive and cruel attacks, as well as ensuring medical treatment is provided for the wounded,” Tinubu said in a statement posted on X on Tuesday.
The Nigerian leader, who has pledged to make defense and security a top priority for his government, has assured the country’s citizens that those responsible for the acts of violence will not go unpunished.
Despite the fact that Nigeria, one of Africa’s top oil producers, has the continent’s largest economy and highest population, the security crisis in the country’s north-west and central regions is stifling its economic development, according to officials, as Western countries, including the US, the UK, and Canada, have advised their citizens against nonessential travel to the former British colony.