Africa-Press. The Nigerian police announced that at least 20 people were killed in an armed attack in the Bokkos area of Plateau State.
A spokesperson for the Nigerian police in Plateau, Alfred Alabo, stated that gunmen attacked the area located in the central northern part of the country on Sunday morning, resulting in at least 20 fatalities.
Alabo explained that Nigerian police forces quickly arrived at the scene of the attack and engaged in a shootout with the assailants, forcing them to withdraw, without announcing the arrest of any suspects so far.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes amid a recurring wave of violence in Plateau State and other areas in northern and central Nigeria.
The police spokesperson added that the bodies of the victims were handed over to their families for burial after the families refused to subject them to autopsy.
For his part, the governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, directed emergency services and government humanitarian agencies to provide urgent assistance and immediate support to the victims and their families, according to a statement from his spokesperson, Joyce Rammbang.
A nighttime attack occurred in March in the town of Gari Ya Wai in Plateau State, which also resulted in the deaths of 20 people.
The “Middle Belt” region of Nigeria, which includes Plateau State, experiences recurring waves of violence, often portrayed as ethnic and religious conflicts between the predominantly Muslim Fulani herders and Christian farmers.
However, experts believe that climate change and agricultural expansion have contributed to escalating competition for land, leading to conflicts regardless of religious or ethnic affiliations.
About two weeks ago, the Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu, announced that over 13,000 “terrorists” were killed last year, asserting that the number of casualties from the insurgency in the country has decreased by 81% since he took office in 2023.
Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, has faced an insurgency from extremist groups in the north for years, with the situation further complicated by the infiltration of extremist groups from the Sahel region, as well as attacks by criminal gangs not linked to any specific ideology, locally known as “bandits.”
