Herder clashes 'more deadly than Boko Haram'

[dar0ck]

A new report on the violence between herders and farmers in Nigeria says that the conflict has now claimed six times more lives than the Boko Haram insurgency.

The International Crisis Group, a non-governmental organisation working to prevent war, says more than 1,300 people have been killed in clashes in Nigeria's middle belt since January and 300,000 have been displaced.

The report says that the conflict stems from wider issues, including climate change and the expansion of farmland.

But it says the escalation of violence in 2018 is due to the growing number of ethnic militias with illegal weapons. It also blames the failure of the government to prosecute perpetrators, and the introduction of anti-grazing laws, widely opposed by herders.

The report also warns that the conflict has dangerous religious and ethnic dimensions because the herders are mainly Muslim Fulanis and the farmers tend to be Christians.