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March 30, New Delhi — At least 13 people were killed in Nigeria when gunmen attacked a university community in central Plateau state on Sunday night. This is the latest violence in a region long plagued by deadly farmer-herder conflicts.
Violence in central Nigeria, also known as the Middle Belt, is often portrayed as an ethnic-religious conflict between primarily Muslim Fulani herders and Christian farmers.
However, many experts and politicians argue that climate change and expanding agriculture are creating competition for land, leading to conflict, regardless of faith or ethnicity.
Residents said the gunmen arrived in the Gari Ya Waye community in the Angwan Rukuba district and indiscriminately shot at people.
The Plateau state government said the gunmen were unknown and imposed a 48-hour curfew in the district. The University of Jos suspended examinations that were scheduled to begin on Monday.
U.S. President Donald Trump redesignated Nigeria as a country of particular concern last November, saying that Christians were being targeted and authorities were failing to protect them, a claim the Nigerian government denies.