13 killed in Nigeria inter-communal clashes

Clashes between farmers and herders killed at least 13 people in central Nigeria over the weekend, community leaders and local authorities told AFP on Sunday (18 June).

In recent weeks, the central state of Plateau has seen a resurgence of violence between herding and farming communities fighting over access to land and resources.

On Friday, five herders taking cattle to market "were stopped and killed" in the Rawuru community by suspected "Berom youths", a farming community, a local Fulani herdsmen's representative Nuru Abdullahi, told AFP.

In what appeared to be a revenge attack, eight Berom farmers were killed in the same area by suspected Fulani herders, Berom youth representative Pius Dalyop Pam told AFP.

Local police spokesman Alfred Alagbo confirmed the latest attack and the death toll.

He said it happened after the killing of the herdsmen, but could not confirm the exact toll of the initial attack.

Nigeria's northwestern and central regions regularly see deadly violence over land and water exploitation between farming and herding communities.

They have worsened in recent years because of population pressure and climate change.

Killings followed by reprisals have given rise to more general criminality, as gangs target villages in raids.

They kill residents in their dozens, and carry out looting and kidnapping for ransom.

Since mid-May, more than 120 people have been killed in deadly communal clashes in Plateau state.

More than 3,000 people have been displaced by the violence.

Local authorities, fearing a spiral of violence, have deployed mobile police in several districts of Plateau State to "restore peace", Alagbo said.

Nigeria's new President Bola Tinubu, who was sworn in at the end of May, faces multiple security challenges.

He has vowed to make the fight against insecurity "his absolute priority".