“Armed bandits on motorcycles stormed the village of Zurak, firing shots and setting fire to houses,” the Plateau state commissioner for information, Musa Ibrahim Ashoms, told AFP by telephone.
“At the moment, there are about forty people confirmed dead,” he added.
A local youth leader, Shafi’i Sambo, also confirmed to AFP that at least 42 people had been killed in the attack.
The inhabitants of the village of Zurak, where the attack took place, live essentially from their mining activities.
The region is known for its large reserves of tin, zinc and lead, in which Nigerian and foreign companies have invested.
Illegal mining activities are widespread, giving rise to frequent intercommunal tensions and violence.
Situated on the dividing line between Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south, the Plateau is also frequently the scene of outbreaks of violence triggered by conflicts between nomadic herders and pastoral farmers.
Climate change has also contributed to escalating tensions over access to resources (land, water and metals in particular).
Some regions of north-western and north-central Nigeria are also terrorized by armed criminal gangs who pillage villages and organize mass kidnappings for ransom.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
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