LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Gunmen have killed at least 15 people in Nigeria’s northwest, the Sokoto state governor said, the latest incident in a spiral of violence in Africa’s most populous country.The gunmen stormed communities in Sokoto state and raided houses from Sunday night into Monday morning, Gov. Aminu Tambuwal said in a statement, just days after nearly 30 people were shot dead across remote communities across Nigeria’s troubled north.
At least 13 people were killed in Illela, a town near the border with neighboring Niger and some 97 kilometers (60 miles) from the state capital, he said, adding that two others were killed in Goronyo, about 76 kilometers (47 miles) east of the state capital.
The violent attacks across the northwest and central parts of Nigeria have killed hundreds of people this year.
Most affected communities are in remote areas that don’t have adequate security or telecommunications, such as Goronyo community where more than 40 people were shot dead a month ago when assailants opened fire at a crowded marketplace.
The gunmen are mostly young men from the Fulani
... a peculiarly brutal tribe of Moslem herdsmen infesting Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and probably other places that are light on law and order and heavy on tribal identity...ethnic group who had traditionally worked as nomadic cattle herders and are caught up in a decades-long conflict with Hausa farming communities
| ..the Hausa of the Sahel are the Fulani’s traditional prey for fun and profit, despite both communities being Moslem... |
The attacks have taken on ethnic and religious dimensions, with clashes often reported in volatile states between the herdsmen and local communities. The assailants — called bandits in Nigeria — are "graduating into terrorists," Gov. Tambuwal said.
| We’ve had the Fulani linked to Boko Haram for some years, a mutual support arrangement. |