12 killed in central Nigeria attack

12 killed in central Nigeria attack

2011-02-23 02:44:43 GMT+7 (ICT)

JOS, NIGERIA (BNO NEWS) -- At least twelve people were killed and several others injured on Tuesday after unknown assailants attacked a village in Nigeria's Plateau State, army authorities said.

Among those killed was a driver, his wife and their four children. The attack occurred at Rwang Fang village in Mangu Local Government Area of crisis ridden Plateau State in North Central Nigeria, according to the African Press Agency.

The military Special Task Force (STF) Spokesman, Capt. Charles Ekeocha, who confirmed the incident blamed the villagers for not contacting the force on time.

"The attack was carried out around midnight, but the villagers did not inform us until the attackers had fled," Ekeocha said, as cited by the African Press Agency.

Ekeocha said more troops had been deployed to beef up security in the area, and that men of the force were on the trail of the assailants.

At least 3,000 people have been killed in the persistent sectarian violence in the Plateau State, which is located between the Muslim-dominated north and the Christian-majority south.

On March 7, 2010, according to police, 109 people, mostly women and children, were slain when members of local Muslim and Christian communities fought each other in revenge for previous killings in the state capital Jos. Last year on Christmas Eve, 80 people died after a series of bomb blasts in the same place.

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