Star Metro - None spared in Nigeria gun, machete massacre: survivors

Two attacks in as many weeks in Nigeria's Plateau state have left more than 100 people dead in a region known for intercommunal conflict and land disputes between herders and farmers.

But the back-to-back massacres -- more than 50 people killed in two districts -- represent a serious escalation, with authorities scrambling to contain the attacks in a state where ethnic tensions have long simmered.

"There was no specific target. They were just shooting," said Peter John, a survivor from Sunday night's attack on the village of Kimakpa, some 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the state capital Jos.

John, 25, who spoke to AFP while receiving treatment at a nearby hospital, said he escaped the attackers, who burst into his family's home around 10:00 pm, by climbing onto the roof.

- Sister, brother, nieces killed -

His sister and her daughter, as well as his older brother and nine-month-old niece, all died from gunshot and machete wounds as the unidentified men rampaged from house to house.

"They shot and killed my younger sister and her daughter right in front of me," he said.

Farmers and herders in Plateau have long clashed over access to dwindling pasture and fields in a state ravaged by climate change, illegal mining and land grabs.

The fact that most farmers are Christian and most herders from the Muslim Fulani ethnic group gives the conflict an ethnic and religious dimension.

John and other witnesses told AFP the attackers were speaking the Fulani language.

When local officials made similar remarks in reference to the earlier massacre this month, a local herder's group denounced the killings -- but also said their members were under attack from farmers.

With no reported arrests or proven motive for the assaults, authorities have not been able to explain the recent uptick in violence.

- 'Systematic and premeditated campaign' -

That has not stopped some politicians from warning of a "genocide" -- language that critics say distracts from the larger issue of criminal impunity and lack of government control in the countryside.

"This is not an isolated conflict between farmers and herders," said Governor Caleb Mutfwang in a speech on Wednesday.

"What we are witnessing is a systematic and premeditated campaign," he alleged, claiming the killers had outside "sponsors".

In response to the massacre, Mutfwang banned cattle grazing at night and transporting cattle by vehicle after 7:00 pm. He called on local vigilante groups to "organize night patrols in coordination with the security agencies".

John said he called a vigilante group on Sunday night -- to no avail.

"It was too late," he told AFP, as his seven-year-old nephew lay in the hospital in deep pain, with severe injuries to his neck and head from a machete.

Earlier in the day, security forces had been present. But they had left before the evening killings started.

He said that prior to the attack, there was another incident in Kimakpa, where security had been provided due to rising insecurity in the area.

"The attackers came, shouting 'Allahu Akbar' ('God is Greater'), and began shooting, killing people, and burning houses," John said.

Diwe Gado Diwe, 41, whose cousin was killed, described the attack as one of the worst experiences of his life.

He was away from the village when the attackers struck -- when his sister called him, he could not return because it was too dangerous.

"She told me not to come," he told AFP at the hospital, shortly after his brother died in the intensive care unit after being shot and hacked.

"I tried calling the vigilante group, but the line didn't go through," said Diwe, who works in neighbouring Bauchi state but was back in the area visiting family.

He was later told that one of the first people killed was a vigilante on patrol.

Jessica John, 45, sat at the bedside of her son, Saryie John, awaiting surgery to remove a bullet lodged in his chest.

Her son, like others, fled the house but returned later with a friend to check on the family.

The friend was shot dead. Saryie John has survived, for now.

P.M.Martin--SMC