Fulani militants kill 50 people within 48 hours in 2 Nigerian states

People react as a truck carries the coffins of people killed by the Fulani herdsmen, in Makurdi, Nigeria January 11, 2018.REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

At least 50 people were killed by suspected Fulani militants in the Nigerian states of Kogi and Plateau within 48 hours.

According to Vanguard, the Nigerian Army has confirmed that 25 people have been killed in fresh attacks in Rafiki village in Plataeu state, and 25 more were reported killed in five communities in Kogi.

The figures do not include the death of two female suicide bombers who had blown themselves up in a failed attack in Maiduguri late Wednesday night, in which nine people were left injured.

The attack on Kogi, which took place last week Tuesday, saw a family of seven killed at Oganenugu. The assailants had also reportedly burnt down five other communities in Omala Local Government Areas.

While the villagers were still mourning, the militants carried out another round of attacks in Oganenugu, killing another 10 people.

"When the herdsmen invaded our community, we ran out of the community and saw some men in military uniform at a distance. Our hope of finding shelter with the 'military men' was dashed when they turned out to be herdsmen who slaughtered some of our villagers," a survivor recounted.

"The herdsmen came in boats with firearms, moving through two communities in the Oganenugu ward on Tuesday evening shooting, killing, and razing homes," he continued.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Admin), Kogi State Command, DCP Monday Kuryas, confirmed the attacks and said that officers have been deployed to the affected communities.

In Plateau state, the Nigerian Army reported that troops have discovered 25 dead bodies in one village.

In a statement issued on Wednesday last week, army spokesperson Texas Chukwu said that "while conducting search, troops discovered 23 dead bodies at Mararaba Dare shortly before Rafiki Village."

The army further noted that two soldiers from the division that discovered the bodies were also killed. Chukwu said the troops were responding to a distress call about a clash between the Miango community and the herdsmen at Rafiki village at the time.

"The two soldiers were killed by herdsmen who opened fire on the troops' convoy," he said, noting that two more soldiers were injured in the attack and were taken to a military hospital.

The attacks have continued in Plateau state despite the curfew imposed by the state government on some communities.

Humanitarian organizations have decried the number of people killed in Fulani attacks and radical Islamic violence in Nigeria.

Last month, the International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law sent a petition to Nigerian President Muhammmadu Buhari and U.S. President Donald Trump to highlight the number of Christians killed in Nigeria since June 2015.

According to the group, 16,000 people, mostly Christians have been killed since Buhari took office in 2015. The figure includes 5,800 victims of Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen, based on Intersociety's investigation.