Two politicians killed in Nigeria

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Jos, Nigeria - Gunmen killed a federal senator and a state lawmaker in Nigeria's troubled Plateau state on Sunday during a mass burial for the victims of an earlier attack, an official said.

"The senator representing Plateau North, Gyang Dantong, and the majority leader of the state assembly, Gyang Fulani, were gunned down today by Fulani herdsmen," said Pam Ayuba, spokesperson for the state's governor.

He added that the two were killed while attending the mass burial for the victims of a Saturday raid, also blamed on the Fulani, a tribe made up of Muslim pastoralist herdsmen.

Plateau state falls in Nigeria's so-called "Middle Belt" region, dividing the country's mainly Muslim north from its mostly Christian south.

The burial ground was located in the state's Gashis district, roughly 90km from the capital Jos.

Another federal lawmaker "escaped death by a whisker", he added.

Asked about the motivation for the attacks, Ayuba said the gunmen were likely inspired by their resentment for the state's Christian political leadership.

A resident of the area told reporters that Christian youths had set up roadblocks after news of the attacks spread.

"Youth in the area have taken over the two major highways, setting up barricades and looking for Muslim motorists to vent their anger on," said Samuel Gambo.

The long-running Fulani conflict in the state has been fuelled by both religious and land tensions.

The nomadic Fulani complain that they have been marginalised by the Birom, the Christian agriculturalist ethnic group that dominates the state.

The two victims of the Sunday attack were Birom, as were the 23 people killed in the Saturday raid.

Last month in neighbouring Kaduna state, co-ordinated church bombings by Boko Haram Islamists sparked reprisal violence by Christian youths who raided mosques and killed dozens of their Muslim neighbours, burning some of their bodies. - Sapa-AFP



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