Gunmen in northern Nigeria kill at least 16.
Written byTimes Magazine
Gunmen have killed at least 16 people in an attack in north-west Nigeria, the government said on Sunday. Gunmen attacked the Zangon Kataf local government area in Kaduna state and opened fire on Saturday after clashing with police at a checkpoint, local government spokesman Yabo Ephraim told Reuters.
Authorities imposed a curfew in the area after the attack. The attackers belonged to the Fulani ethnic group, a largely nomadic pastoralist group embroiled in a long-standing dispute with farmers over limited access to water and land, Ephraim said.
Before the shooting, a fight broke out between the villagers and a small group of Fulani men.The latter left the scene and then returned in larger numbers with guns and machetes, a government spokesman said.
“They were strategically placed in a few places and started opening fire on the community. They even chased her home. Wherever you hide, you will be shot at,” Ephraim added.
Such attacks are not uncommon in Nigeria, particularly in the hard-hit north.The pastoral conflict has turned into various armed groups that have been committing acts of violence for years, defying the government and security measures.
On Sunday, youth from Ungwan Wakili township, where Saturday's attack took place, protested the killings, blaming Nigerian soldiers for failing to stop the violence while they were in the area at the time.
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