Farmer-herder attacks and communal conflicts are rife in central Nigeria, an ethnically and religiously diverse hinterland known as the “Middle Belt”, where a circle of violence has claimed hundreds of lives in recent years.

The latest violence yesterday came after a Christmas Day attack in the area which left at least 140 people dead. A dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed on Jan 23.

A Plateau police spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the attacks which took place over two days.

The attackers targeted several villages including Kwahaslalek, Kinat, and Mairana, located on the borders of Mangu and Barkin Ladi local government areas, said Joseph Gwankat, head of the community group Mwaghavul Development Association (MDA).

“The victims had sought refuge in the house of a community leader after earlier unrest in Mangu town. The attackers surrounded the house and killed those inside,” Gwankat told Reuters by phone.

In a subsequent statement, the MDA blamed the attack on herders, and questioned why troops deployed by the federal government to the area since the Christmas attacks did not intervene to stop the violence.

Survivors reported that the gunmen indiscriminately shot at people, including women and children, and set fire to houses and property.

The latest attacks come amid a surge in violence in Plateau, which has seen repeated clashes between nomadic herders and local farming communities.