Today, Thursday, a local official announced that the death toll in the wake of clashes between herders and farmers in Plateau state in central Nigeria has jumped from 30 to 85.
The head of the Local Government Council, Minister Dabot Daniel, told AFP that after Monday’s attacks in Mango district, 85 bodies were recovered, according to AFP.
He added that some people were injured, without giving figures, and several houses were destroyed, and many people have been displaced from their homes so far.
The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) said thousands of people had been displaced from their homes in the aftermath of the attacks.
The area of clashes lies on the dividing line between the Muslim-majority north of Nigeria and the Christian-majority south, and has been battling ethnic and religious violence for years.
It is not clear what sparked the recent violence, but revenge killings between herders and farmers often escalated into raids on villages by armed gangs.
Johnny Bala, director of the Sima Search and Rescue Centre, said that search and rescue teams visited the area of the clashes on Wednesday.
Bala told AFP that they could see houses burning but could not go any further because there was an angry mob.
On Thursday, police said they had arrested five people in connection with the violence.
Police spokesman Alfred Alabu said in a statement that a heavy security presence had been deployed.
He reported that calm has been restored so far to the Manju Local Government general area while monitoring continues.
