Bomb kills 27 herders in central Nigeria: police

A bomb killed 27 herders in central Nigeria.

A group of 27 herders were killed Wednesday and several others injured in what police called a bomb explosion in central Nigeria, a region known for ethnic and religious tensions.

The herders and their cattle were in Rukubi, a village on the border between Nasarawa and Benue states when a bomb exploded in their midst.

“We have established 27 people were killed in the bomb explosion along with several cattle,” said Maiyaki Muhammed Baba, Nasarawa’s police commissioner.

“Many other people were injured and the death toll could mount as searches are still going on,” Baba said, adding that police bomb experts were investigating the origin of the explosion.

But an umbrella group representing herders said the explosion resulted from a military airstrike.

“It was an airstrike. It killed 27 of our people,” said Lawal Dano of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria.

“We all know it is only the military that possess jets to carry out aerial strikes, and we call for a thorough investigation and necessary sanction on whoever is behind this,” Dano said.

Nigeria’s air force spokesman did not respond to AFP requests for comment.

There have been accidental airstrikes on civilians by the military in northeast and northwest Nigeria in the past, where troops are fighting jihadists and criminal gangs.

In Central Nigeria, herders and farmers have been clashing over grazing and water rights.

The decades-long conflict has taken an ethnic and religious dimension in recent years, with most herders Muslims while farmers are largely Christians.