BAUCHI, Nigeria, March 30 (Reuters) – Gunmen attacked a university community in Nigeria’s central Plateau state on Sunday night, killing at least 13 people, residents and local officials said, the latest violence in a region long plagued by deadly farmer-herder conflicts.
* Violence in central Nigeria, also known as Middle Belt, isoften painted as ethno-religious between mainly Muslim Fulaniherders and Christian farmers. But many experts and politicianssay climate change and expanding agriculture are creatingcompetition for land, leading to conflict, regardless of faithor ethnicity. * Residents said the gunmen arrived in the Gari Ya Wayecommunity of Angwan Rukuba district and shot at peopleindiscriminately. * The Plateau state government said the gunmen were unknownand imposed a 48-hour curfew in the district. The University ofJos suspended examinations due to start on Monday. * “People were here in the evening and unfortunately, wickedterrorists came and attacked our people. We have counted scoresof people who are now dead and then so many others are also inthe hospital receiving treatment,” said Paul Mancha, a residentand chairperson of the youth council in Plateau. * U.S. President Donald Trump last November redesignatedNigeria “a country of particular concern” saying Christians werebeing targeted and authorities were failing to protect them,which the Nigerian government denies.
(Reporting by Ardo Hazzad, Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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