At least 20 people have been killed in a series of violent incidents in Plateau State, north-central Nigeria, this week, local officials and humanitarian workers confirmed on Wednesday, marking the latest eruption of deadly clashes in the region.
The violence unfolded in three separate attacks across the Mangu local government area on Monday and Tuesday. According to council chairman Emmanuel Bala, the unrest appears to stem from tensions linked to mining activities in the tin-rich terrain, which escalated into a cycle of retaliatory assaults.
Plateau has long been a flashpoint for conflict between Fulani herders and predominantly Christian farming communities. Disputes over land, grazing rights, and access to natural resources are often intertwined with ethnic and religious divides, triggering bouts of sectarian violence.
“Sometime ago the natives were mining, they were attacked” with machetes, though no one died, Bala told AFP.” But since then, a series of reprisal attacks have taken place.
On Monday, unidentified assailants killed seven people in Bwe district. The following day, five more people were slain on the outskirts of Langai town. Later that same night, eight residents of Chinchin village were reportedly murdered by suspected Fulani militants.
Bala added that Fulani communities in the area have also faced retaliatory attacks in recent days, as tensions surged following earlier killings blamed on members of their ethnic group.
A Red Cross official verified the death toll from the Chinchin attack and suggested that the overall number of fatalities across the 24-hour period could be as high as 21.
Land disputes between farmers and herders in central Nigeria have been further inflamed by the effects of climate change, population growth, and competition over dwindling resources. These issues are compounded by a backdrop of political and economic friction between indigenous communities and those regarded as outsiders.
The presence of radical religious figures and ineffective security responses often results in communal reprisals when violence breaks out. In April, over 150 people were killed in a spate of attacks in Plateau and neighbouring Benue State.
While Fulani herders are frequently blamed for brutal assaults, they too report being targeted—claiming incidents of cattle poisoning, land dispossession, and deadly ambushes by farming groups.
