Armed groups kill 113 people in series of attacks across central Nigeria
Al Jazeera
Nigerian authorities say armed groups known as ‘bandits’ hit 20 communities and injure more than 300 people.
Armed groups have killed more than 100 people in a string of attacks targeting towns across central Nigeria, another deadly episode in a region with persistent religious and ethnic tensions.
Local officials on Monday said the toll of the weekend attacks by armed groups, sometimes called “bandits”, has risen to 113, increasing sharply from the government’s initial count of 16.
“As many as 113 persons have been confirmed killed as Saturday hostilities persisted to early hours of Monday,” Monday Kassah, head of the local government in Bokkos in Plateau State, told the Agence France-Presse news agency.
Kassah said the “well-coordinated” attacks, which also injured more than 300 people, targeted at least 20 communities across the region.
“Proactive measures will be taken by the government to curb ongoing attacks against innocent civilians,” said Gyang Bere, a spokesperson for Plateau Governor Caleb Mutfwang.
