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Nigeria’s Boko Haram jihadists have claimed a weekend attack at a graveyard in central Plateau state that left at least 22 people dead, including two prominent politicians.
Police and officials have blamed nomadic herdsmen for the raid.
And the spokesperson for the Nomadic Fulani herdsmen, Mallam sale Bayeri has also blamed the Plateau government for providing the climate for the conflict between herdsmen and villagers, who are farmers.
But in a dramatic statement issued from purported spokesman Abul Qaqa, Boko Haram said it “wants to inform the world of its delight over the success of the attacks we launched… in Plateau state on Christians and security operatives, including members of the National Assembly”.
Official death toll from the weekend attacks in several Plateau villages has been estimated at over 100. But with reprisal attacks by Christian youths on Sunday, the estimate is said to be close to 200.
Some of the high profile persons that died in the attacks were Senator Gyang Dantong and the majority leader in the Plateau House of Assembly, Gyang Fulani.They died in a stampede that occurred when gunmen attacked hundreds mourners that gathered to bury the victims of the attacks that occurred Friday night and Saturday.
Boko Haram has in the past claimed killings widely thought to have been carried out by another group, in an effort to boost its stature.
In the latest statement, Qaqa said:”We will continue to hunt for government officials wherever they are; they will have no peace again,” said the statement from the Islamist group that has carried out waves of assaults in northern and central Nigeria.
Boko Haram has also previously struck in Plateau, including a suicide bombing at a church in the capital Jos last month.
But a police source in Plateau, who requested anonymity, told AFP on Tuesday that “if Boko Haram were involved, it is because the Fulani invited them to take part”.
“Suspected Fulani are the ones that carried out that attack. That is the opinion of police,” said the source.
Fulani pastoralists, of Hausa-Muslim ethnicity, are seen as “settlers” by the Christian ethnic groups that dominate power in Plateau state, even though the Fulani have been there for decades.
Policies that favour indigenous Christian groups when it comes to such issues as patronage, jobs and land have created animosity, and sparked flashes of violence, some of it directed against the Fulani themselves.
Boko Haram has also previously struck in Plateau, including a suicide bombing at a church in the capital Jos last month.
But a police source in Plateau, who requested anonymity, told AFP on Tuesday that “if Boko Haram were involved, it is because the Fulani invited them to take part”.
“Suspected Fulani are the ones that carried out that attack. That is the opinion of police,” said the source.
Fulani pastoralists, of Hausa-Muslim ethnicity, are seen as “settlers” by the Christian ethnic groups that dominate power in Plateau state, even though the Fulani have been there for decades.
Policies that favour indigenous Christian groups when it comes to such issues as patronage, jobs and land have created animosity, and sparked flashes of violence, some of it directed against the Fulani themselves.
The funeral where the Sunday killings took place was for some of those killed in an attack the previous day.
Officials said that suspected Fulani gunmen stormed several Christian villages in Plateau on Saturday, killing at least 80 people.
In January, Boko Haram claimed the murder of 17 Christian traders in the northeastern Adamawa state, which police later concluded was the result of an inter-communal conflict.
The Islamist group has killed more than 1,000 people since mid-2009 in Africa’s most populous nation and top oil producer.
Plateau state falls in Nigeria’s so-called “Middle Belt,” where the mainly Christian south meets the majority Muslim north, and has been the site of waves of sectarian violence in recent years.
Officials said that suspected Fulani gunmen stormed several Christian villages in Plateau on Saturday, killing at least 80 people.
In January, Boko Haram claimed the murder of 17 Christian traders in the northeastern Adamawa state, which police later concluded was the result of an inter-communal conflict.
The Islamist group has killed more than 1,000 people since mid-2009 in Africa’s most populous nation and top oil producer.
Plateau state falls in Nigeria’s so-called “Middle Belt,” where the mainly Christian south meets the majority Muslim north, and has been the site of waves of sectarian violence in recent years.
Culled from PM News Nigeria.
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