Central Nigeria Officials Accuse Army of Mass Killing
An official in Nigeria's central Nasarawa state and a local leader on Friday accused the military of killing scores of people in a disarmament operation, but defense officials denied the charge.
The alleged incident took place on Thursday in the Keana local government area, where troops were on patrol to enforce a peace deal agreed this week between rival ethnic groups.
Iliyasu Ali Yakubu, spokesman for Nasarawa Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, told Agence France Presse that the troops "killed scores" of Fulani tribesmen, a mainly Muslim ethnic group primarily made up of cattle-herders.
The Fulani have clashed for years with farming communities across central Nigeria in a conflict partly driven by bitter disputes over land rights.
Mohammed Hussein, spokesman of the main Fulani association in Nasarawa, said the troops shot dead 32 people but that figure could not be confirmed by an independent source.
"The soldiers in a convoy of 10 trucks accompanied by four armored vehicles bulldozed their way into the settlements and opened fire on male residents," said Hussein, of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN).
He said the shooting spree amounted to "premeditated murder".
Defense spokesman Chris Olukolade said troops in that area had "an encounter with some gang members", but he did not provide casualty figures.
He also said the military had received "no credible report" concerning the mass killing of unarmed civilians.
The conflict in central Nigeria, or Middle Belt, has persisted for more than a decade despite a series of peace efforts across several states.
Some of the region's farmers have sought to portray the Fulani as invaders bent on stealing land from the area's so-called indigenous people.
Under Nigerian law, indigenes have enhanced rights in their home area, including preferential access to public education and jobs.
The Fulani claim they have been systematically disenfranchised.
The disputes vary from state to state and often have a religious element, especially in areas where farmers are predominantly Christian.
But Nasarawa has a large population of ethnically Hausa Muslims, another group with a long-standing rivalry with the Fulani.
Sources were unable to explain why the soldiers opened fire on the Keana residents, and Yakubu, the governor's spokesman, said there were no clashes before the shooting.
He said that when the soldiers descended on the area the locals were conducting "a three-day prayer period" to mark a recent death.
Source: Agence France Presse
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