Nigerian police say gunmen shot dead 11 people in an attack in central Nigeria suspected to be part of a series of communal clashes.
Police spokesman in Plateau state Terna Tyopev said in a press statement that the incident occurred late Sunday in Lopandet Dwei Du village just outside Jos, the capital of Plateau state.
He added that 11 more people were wounded and are now in hospital.
The attack comes a week after suspected herdsmen from the Fulani ethnic group killed eight people including a pastor and his wife in a village near Jos.
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Plateau and other parts of central Nigeria have witnessed a spate of killings in recent months as herdsmen in search of grazing land and water for their cattle attack villages inhabited by farmers.
On June 23, more than 100 people were killed when herdsmen carried out simultaneous attacks on several villages in the Barkin Ladi area of Plateau state.
The growing conflict between the mainly Muslim herdsmen and the Christian farming communities further heighten ethnic and religious tensions ahead of Nigeria’s general elections scheduled for early next year.
The International Crisis Group, a non-governmental organization working to prevent war, said in a report released recently, that the violence between the herders and farmers has claimed six times more lives than Nigeria’s Boko Haram insurgency.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")