At least 90 people had been killed during attacks on
villages in Gashik District of Barkinladi Local
government area of central north Nigeria's Plateau
State by Sunday afternoon, security sources and
Xinhua reporters on ground said. In a brief text message to Xinhua, the security
sources said 50 burnt bodies were uncovered
in the early hours of Sunday in a COCIN church
in Matsai village. Xinhua's reporters in the restive city of Jos
said 20 persons were killed Sunday afternoon
at the mass burial site of victims on Saturday
attack, including a serving Senator, Gyang
Dantong, representing Plateau north and the
majority leader of the State House of Assembly, Gyang Fulani. Before he was killed on Sunday, the late Fulani told
Xinhua on Saturday that at least 20 people were killed
on Friday night in Barkinladi by yet to be identified
gunmen, who invaded nine villages of the locality. "Dantong, Fulani and other unidentified officials were
all murdered today during a mass burial for scores of
people killed by unknown gunmen," the security
source said. Dan Manjan, a legislative aide to the senator, who
escaped the attack said scores of injured victims are
still receiving treatment in hospitals across the state. A Xinhua reporter said the Berom people leaving in
Jos have taken over major roads in the state. Plateau State is situated in Nigeria's middle belt where
the Muslim-dominated north and the Christian-majority
south meet. It has seen years of ethnic tensions and is
a major potential flash point ahead of the April
presidential elections. The state capital Jos was plunged in a pool of blood on
March 7, 2010, when members of local Muslim and
Christian communities fought each other in revenge
for previous killings. The state has recently witnessed some bomb blasts
and constant rifts between Berom and Fulani
herdsmen, with many, especially women and
children, murdered in cold blood in the state.
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