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Ethnic clashes kill 34 in Nigeria

A farming dispute is being blamed for the deaths of at least 34 people in central Nigeria during clashes between rival tribes.

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Source: AAP


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Clashes between rival tribes in central Nigeria have left at least 34 people dead.

The violence erupted on Saturday when a militia from the Eggon tribe attacked the Gwandara village of Egan following a dispute over farmland, said Nasarawa state spokesman Sani Musa Mairiga on Sunday.

"All the victims were from Gwandara tribe whose village came under sudden attack from Ombatse cult members from Eggon tribe," Mairiga said.

"So far 34 people have been killed in the violence with several others injured."

Several homes and barns were burnt in the attack, sparked by a farming dispute in which an Eggon man was injured, he said.

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Armed police were deployed to stop the bloodshed, Mairiga said.

Ethnic disputes linked to land are frequent in central Nigeria, despite efforts to mend relations between the region's different groups.

The fighting often has religious overtones, pitting Christian farmers against nomadic Muslim herder communities, although in Nawasara state the rival ethnicities are made up of both Christians and Muslims.


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