More than a hundred people have been killed in central Nigeria in a series of attacks on villages, local government officials said on Monday.
The toll marked a sharp rise from the initial figure reported by the army on Sunday evening of 16 dead in a region plagued for several years by religious and ethnic tensions.
"As many as 113 persons have been confirmed killed as Saturday hostilities persisted to early hours of Monday," Monday Kassah, the head of the local government in Bokkos, Plateau State, told AFP.
Military gangs, locally called "bandits", launched "well-coordinated" attacks in "not fewer than 20 different communities", Kassah said.
'Barbaric, brutal and unjustified'
"We found more than 300 wounded people" who were transferred to hospitals in Bokkos, Jos and Barkin Ladi, he said.
The attacks which started in the Bokkos area spilled into the neighbouring Barkin Ladi, where 30 people were found dead, according to local chairperson Danjuma Dakil.
On Sunday, state governor Caleb Mutfwang condemned the attack, calling it "barbaric, brutal and unjustified."
"Proactive measures will be taken by the government to curb ongoing attacks against innocent civilians," Gyang Bere, the governor's spokesperson, said.
Northwest and central Nigeria have been long terrorised by bandit militias operating from bases deep in forests and raiding villages to loot and kidnap residents for ransom.
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