Armed gunmen killed at least 20 people during a deadly assault on a Nigerian community Sunday night, according to local residents and government officials.
The violent incident took place in the Gari Ya Waye community located in Jos North area within Plateau state, according to Joyce Lohya Ramnap, the state’s information commissioner. In her official statement, Ramnap confirmed there were fatalities and injuries but did not specify casualty numbers.
Following the deadly assault, state officials enacted a 48-hour curfew aimed at preventing additional violence, Ramnap announced.
While no organization has taken responsibility for the attack, local residents reported to The Associated Press that numerous armed individuals on motorcycles fired randomly throughout the community.
Local resident Ibukun Falodun confirmed that 20 deaths had been verified from the incident.
Such violent incidents in Plateau State represent part of an ongoing pattern of bloodshed across north-central Nigeria, where conflicts over territory and livestock grazing rights between predominantly Muslim Fulani cattle herders and primarily Christian agricultural communities regularly turn fatal. Criminal organizations also operate throughout the region.
