At least 18 worshippers were killed by gunmen who attacked a mosque in northern Nigeria during early morning prayers Monday, local authorities and police told The Associated Press. The attack took place in Mazakuka village in Mashegu local government area of the country’s Niger state. The attackers, believed to be ethnic Fulani nomadic herders, were able to escape.
Similar ethnic violence, which has led to hundreds of deaths so far this year, stems from a decades-long conflict over access to water and land. Some of the Fulani caught up in that conflict have taken up arms against local Hausa farming communities.
“The gunmen came around the mosque and started shooting them,” Alhassan Isah, chairman of Mashegu local government area told The AP. He said another four people were injured.
Niger police commissioner Monday Kuryas said the attack was related to the conflict between the villagers and the Fulani herders.
The latest attack is another example of the troubled security situation in most states in Nigeria’s northwest and central regions. The northwest in particular has been witnessing a spike in deadly violence.
Regarding the latest violence in Niger, state police commissioner Kuryas admitted that the “very difficult” terrain in Mashegu made it difficult for the police to swiftly respond to the security alert. “It is not accessible by road,” he said.
