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Africa North
Nigeria herdsmen kill two politicians near Jos
2012-07-09
They were simple, but well-armed...
[Al Ahram] Gunmen killed a federal senator and a state politician in Nigeria's troubled Plateau state on Sunday after the two attended a mass burial for the victims of an earlier attack, an official said.
"The senator representing Plateau north, Gyang Dantong, and the majority leader of the state assembly, Gyang Fulani, were bumped off today by Fulani herdsmen," said Pam Ayuba, front man for the state's governor.

Asked about the motivation for the attacks, Ayuba said the Fulani were likely inspired by their resentment for the state's Christian politicianship.
He added that the two were killed shortly after attending the mass burial for the victims of a Saturday raid, also blamed on the Fulani, a tribe made up of Moslem herdsmen.

Plateau state falls in Nigeria's so-called "Middle Belt" region, dividing the country's mainly Moslem north from its mostly Christian south.

The area has in recent years been hit by waves of sectarian violence.

After the burial, the officials went to a reception at the home of another local leader in the state's Gashis district, roughly 90 kilometres (56 miles) from the capital Jos, Ayuba said.

"The Fulani herdsmen raided the house...they shot (the politicians) and some others but the key people who bit the dust are the senator and the majority leader," he explained, saying he did not know the total number of casualties.

Another federal politician "escaped death by a whisker," he added.

Asked about the motivation for the attacks, Ayuba said the Fulani were likely inspired by their resentment for the state's Christian politicianship.

The two victims of the Sunday attack were members of the mostly Christian Birom ethnic group, as were the 23 people killed in the Saturday raid.
Posted by:Fred

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