KILLINGS: Nigerian Senator, state lawmaker murdered by Fulani Muslim herdsmen near Jos; 105 others dead

Again KILLINGS on religious and ethnic divide: Nigerian Senator, state lawmaker murdered by Fulani Muslim herdsmen near Jos; 105 others dead in more clashes; curfew imposed….

Gunmen have killed a federal senator and a state lawmaker in Nigeria’s troubled Plateau state after the two attended a mass burial for the victims of an earlier attack.

“The senator representing Plateau north, Gyang Dantong, and the majority leader of the state assembly, Gyang (Filani), were gunned down today by Fulani herdsmen,” said Pam Ayuba, spokesman for the state’s governor.
He added that the two were killed shortly after attending the mass burial for the victims of a Saturday raid, also blamed on the Fulani, a tribe made up of Muslim 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 area has in recent years been hit by waves of sectarian violence.
After the burial, the officials went to a reception at the home of another local leader in the state’s Gashis district, roughly 90 kilometres from the capital Jos, Mr Ayuba said.

“The Fulani herdsmen raided the house…they shot (the politicians) and some others but the key people who lost their lives are the senator and the majority leader,” he explained, saying he did not know the total number of casualties.
Another federal lawmaker “escaped death by a whisker”, he added.
Asked about the motivation for the attacks, Mr Ayuba said the Fulani were likely inspired by their resentment for the state’s Christian political leadership.
The two victims of yesterday’s attack were members of the mostly Christian Birom ethnic group, as were the 23 people killed in the Saturday raid. ref: AFP

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Raids and reprisal attacks have left 52 people dead in Christian villages near a Nigerian city where authorities have struggled to contain religious violence, officials said Sunday.

Sunday July 8, 2012: Assailants launched “sophisticated attacks” on several villages near Jos early Saturday, said Mustapha Salisu, spokesman for a special taskforce made up of policemen and soldiers deployed in the area to curb years of violence.

“They came in hundreds,” Salisu said. “Some had (police) uniforms and some even had bulletproof vests.” He said the special taskforce fought back for hours and lost two policemen in the battle. ref: AP