Monitoring Desk
KANO, NIGERIA: Police said on Wednesday that at least 27 herders were reportedly killed and several others wounded in a bomb blast in central Nigeria.
Police officials confirm Blast
Officials said that the explosion took in Rukubi, a rural area on the border between Benue and Nasarawa states. Nasarawa’s police commissioner Maiyaki Muhammed Baba said that they have confirmed 27 people were killed in the bomb blast along with many cattle. The police commissioner said that several people were wounded in the explosion and feared that the death toll could increase. He said that the police launched an investigation after the explosion in the area.
But a group representing herders told the media that the explosion resulted from a military strike. However, Nigeria’s air force did not respond to AFP’s requests for comment.
In the Central part of Nigeria, farmers and herders have been clashing over grazing and water rights. The decades-long conflict has taken religious and ethnic dimensions in recent years, with most farmers are largely Christians while herders Muslims.
