Gunmen kill at least 27 people in Nigeria's Plateau state

Gunmen have killed 27 people in north-central Nigeria's Plateau state, in the latest bout of violence in the restive region, local sources told AFP on Tuesday.

Plateau state, like other parts of Nigeria's Middle Belt region, has long suffered deadly farmer-herder clashes over land and natural resources, as well as violence meted out by armed gangs known as "bandits."

Resident Haggai Gankis told AFP that the attackers went into the settlement of Jebu-Rahoss, in the Riyom local government area, on Monday evening, armed with guns and machetes.

He blamed the attack on herdsmen. Another resident, Chuwang David, blamed bandits.

'Shot many people'

"We were asleep overnight, we heard gunshots, the attackers shot many people and they also used machetes," David said.

Da Chomo Moses, another resident, gave the same toll and said he lost three family members.

"Twenty-seven innocent people were shot dead," said Gankis, adding that most of the victims were women.

Local government council chairperson Sati Bature Shuwa confirmed the attack to AFP, but did not give a toll.

Several people hospitalised

Residents said an unknown number of people were sent to the hospital.

For years, heavily armed bandits have intensified their assaults in rural areas in northwest and central Nigeria.

At the same time, Plateau state has been riven by conflicts between herders and farmers over dwindling land and grazing space, exacerbated by population growth and climate change.

Political and economic tensions between locals and those considered outsiders have heightened divisions in recent decades.

Herders say they are also victims of attacks

Attacks across Plateau and neighbouring Benue state left more than 150 people dead in April alone.

While high-profile killings blamed on herders have shocked the country, herders across the region say they are also victims of deadly attacks.

Much of the violence in Plateau occurs in areas with little police presence.