At least 30 people have been killed in renewed violence in Nigeria's north-central Plateau State, where intercommunal clashes have recently erupted, a community organisation and an aid group source said on Thursday.
Despite a 24-hour curfew imposed on Tuesday in Plateau's Mangu local district, schools, places of worship and homes have been burned and ransacked in more attacks, community leaders said.
The Mwaghavul Development Association, an organisation for ethnic Mwaghavul people, said 30 people had been killed.
"At the moment, our people are left at the mercy of God and the little they can do in self defence," the association said in a statement.
At least 100 people injured
That figure was confirmed by a local rescue official and a source at an aid group working on the ground, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity. The aid source said more than 100 people had been wounded.
The police and army did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation of deaths from the most recent attacks.
Two camps for the displaced have been set up in Mangu town, for about 1,500 people, local chairperson of Nigeria Red Cross Nurudeen Husaini Magaji told AFP.
Plateau's governor announced the curfew on Tuesday after another clash that officials blamed on a dispute between a herder moving his cattle and other residents using the road.
Flashpoint for intercommunal clashes
Plateau, which lies on the dividing line between Nigeria's mostly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south, is a flashpoint for intercommunal violence.
But tensions have soared since nearly 200 people were killed over Christmas in raids on mostly Christian villages.
The Jama'atu Nasril Islam, a Muslim community organisation, also said that clashes erupted between Tuesday and Wednesday in Mangu town, with places of worship and faith-based schools attacked.
"We call on the government and security agencies to intensify their efforts in securing the lives and properties of the inhabitants of Mangu and other flash points," JNI's state director Salim Musa Umar said.
Improving security, a priority
"All concerned should also do everything possible to prevent any possible escalation."
Clashes in Nigeria's northwest and north-central states have their roots in community tensions over land between nomadic herders and pastoral farmers.
But tit-for-tat revenge attacks have spiralled into broader criminality.
Heavily armed gangs known locally as bandits raid villages especially in the northwest states, looting and kidnapping for ransom.
Rural villages often form self-defence vigilante groups to protect themselves from raids.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu says improving security is a priority as he seeks to attract more foreign investment in Africa's most populous country and largest economy.
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