Sixteen people were killed and 14 others wounded when gunmen opened fire at a party to name a newborn baby, police said Tuesday, in the latest violence between farmers and herders in central Nigeria.
Those murdered included the parents and the infant, residents said.
The attack on Sunday night happened in Nasarawa, a state wracked by long-running violence between settled farmers and semi-nomadic pastoralists who move with their herds.
The gunmen opened fire on guests as they celebrated with the family and their newborn baby in Numa village, in the Akwanga area of the state.
“The attack happened when some people were having a celebration at night,” state deputy police commissioner, Umar Shehu Nadada, told AFP.
“The unidentified gunmen killed 16 people and injured 14 others.”
Numa, a farming village and home to people from the Mada ethnic group, has been at loggerheads with Fulani herders.
Residents accused the herders of the attack, saying the men turned up about three hours after dusk to join the party. In the darkness, they opened fire into the crowd.
“We believe the attackers are Fulani. They pretended to have come to celebrate with the family,” said resident Emmanuel Kato.
“It was while the party was going on that they brought out their guns and started shooting the people, killing 16 and injuring many others.”
Kato said those killed included the couple and their newborn, as well as a pregnant woman.
Philip Gyunka, a senator at the National Assembly representing the area, said the attack was fallout of a recent conflict between the Mada and Fulani.
Nasarawa state, like neighbouring Benue and Plateau, are part of the “middle-belt” states that divide Nigeria’s mainly-Muslim north from the predominantly Christian south. The region has seen deadly clashes between Fulani herders and farmers over land, grazing and water for years.
Meanwhile, the state governor, Umaru Al-Makura, has tasked security agencies to fish out the perpetrators .
Al-Makura, while commiserating with the Chun-Mada, Samson Gamu-yare and the entire Mada nation on Tuesday in Akwanga, expressed shock over the killings.
He said the attack had eroded the peace enjoyed in Mada land, and charged security agencies to quickly track, arrest and prosecute the perpetrators, to ensure justice.
Al-Makura assured of government’s commitment to the protection of lives and property, urging the people not to lose faith.
He added that the government would not condone any act of lawlessness, reiterating that his administration’s focus on strengthening community conflict resolution mechanism remained unshaken.
The governor, who visited some of the victims receiving treatment at Akwanga General hospital, said the government would take care of their medical bills as well as the funeral expenses of those killed in the attack.
Responding, the traditional ruler of the area, Gamu-yare and the Chairman of Akwanga local government, Samuel Meshi, appreciated Al-Makura for identifying with them at this moment of grief.
According to Gamu-Yare, the visit of the governor has brought great relief to the people of the area over the unfortunate incident.