A suspected bomb blast in north-central Nigeria has killed dozens of herdsmen and passersby and injured several others, a government official and a spokesman for local cattle farmers said on Wednesday.
The accident happened on Tuesday evening between Nasarawa and Banuh states in north-central Nigeria.
According to Tasio Suleiman, a representative of Nigeria’s Meet Allah Cattle Breeders Association, A group of Fulani herdsmen were moving their cattle from Benue to Nassarawa when authorities confiscated the animals for violating anti-grazing laws.
“No fewer than 54 people died on the spot. “Countless were injured,” he said, according to Reuters.
Nasarawa Governor Abdullah Soli did not disclose the death toll but told reporters that a bomb blast was responsible for the deaths.
He did not say who he believed was behind the blast, but said he was meeting with security services “so we can continue to de-escalate” the incident.
North Central Nigeria, also known as the Middle Belt, is rife with violence as a result of clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers, the majority of whom are Christians, in an ethnic and religious conflict.
But experts say population growth and climate change have expanded the area devoted to agriculture, leaving less land available for open grazing by nomadic herders.
