Gunmen kill 34 at Nigeria cattle market

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Maiduguri, Nigeria -  

At least 34 people were killed after a failed cattle raid in a northeast Nigeria market sparked a retaliatory attack by robbers angry one of their colleagues had been burned alive by herders, an official and witnesses said Thursday.

The casualty figure could be higher from the attack in Potiskum, a town in Nigeria's Yobe state, as Muslim mourners often quickly bury their dead without taking bodies to the authorities.

The violence began Wednesday, as witnesses said gunmen started shooting in the Potiskum market, trying to steal cattle. Witnesses said three people at the market were killed, as a fourth man suspected to be part of the group of robbers was set afire while still alive and died of his burns.

Police confirmed the attack happened but gave no further details.

That night, the gunmen returned, firing at those living there and setting the market ablaze, witnesses said. On Thursday, the Potiskum General Hospital took in 34 corpses from the attack, an official there said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to journalists.

Nwakpa O. Nwakpa, a spokesman for the Nigerian Red Cross, said at least 33 people were wounded in the attack and needed medical attention. A spokesman for Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency said officials were trying to reach the rural town and offer  assistance while taking a survey of the damage.

The attack does not appear to be the work of the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram, which is waging an increasingly violent sectarian fight against Nigeria's weak central government. Witnesses of Wednesday's attack said the robber burned alive by angry herdsmen who survived the initial attack spoke Igbo, a language of Nigeria's Christian southeast.

Boko Haram has carried out attacks in Potiskum before. The area is also part of a region that President Goodluck Jonathan put under  emergency rule due to sect attacks, which gives military and police  additional powers. However, the cattle market attack shows the limits of power the nation's weak central government faces in dealing with violence in its rural lands.

Cattle raids remain common across the north, as herdsmen lead teams across the arid plains to market. While attacks there often cuts across ethnic and religious lines, the root of the violence often comes back to grazing rights and political power. - Sapa-AP



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