Fulani herdsmen kill 30 in Zamfara

Gunmen believed to be Fulani herdsmen stormed a meeting in northern Nigeria’s Zamfara state and killed 30 people, police said Sunday.

“Thirty people were killed and several others injured,” Zamfara state police spokesman Lawal Abdullahi told AFP.

“The incident happened in Galadima yesterday during a meeting of community leaders and representatives of vigilante groups” who were discussing ways to thwart armed robbers and cattle rustlers, he said.

He said security forces had deployed to the area.

But survivors said more than 60 people might have died in the attack.

“We counted 61 bodies from the scene of the attack last night, while many people were wounded,” a survivor who gave his name only as Babaginda from neighbouring Kaduna state told AFP.

He said he was lucky to escape with his life and implored the security forces to stem incessant attacks by Fulani rustlers on villages in the area.

The conflict between Fulani herdsmen and local farmers over land rights, particularly in central Nigeria, has persisted for more than a decade despite a series of peace efforts across several states.