Dozens of bodies have been buried in a mass grave following an attack on a community in Nigeria’s Plateau state with many survivors fleeing the area.

Residents of Mwaghavul, a farming community in Mangu area of central Nigeria, told the BBC the assailants charged into their villages on Tuesday, shot indiscriminately before torching buildings.

A community leader told the BBC that “the gunmen invaded up to 17 villages” and that there were at least 85 people who died.

Deborah Samuel, a resident who escaped after hearing gunshots while at a market, said her father-in-law and four of her husband’s younger brothers were killed.

“We suddenly started hearing gunshots from different angles. We started running. I am still in pain of what has happened,” she said, cuddling her months-old baby.

Some of those who fled the attack have taken refuge at a private-run camp for internally displaced people.

It is unclear what caused the attack, but some residents suggest it’s a reprisal to a strike on a Fulani community in the past months.

Competition for land resources has often resulted into ethnic clashes between pastoralists and farmers.

BBC