Gunmen kill at least 52 in Nigeria's Plateau state

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said the scale of the violence became clearer at the weekend as 52 people were confirmed dead while 22 others were taken to hospital.

NEMA said in a statement that "gunmen carried out brutal assaults", leading to multiple fatalities and widespread destruction of property.

"Over 1820 individuals have been displaced. Three displacement camps have been established," the agency said, adding that the security situation remained tense.

President Bola Tinubu directed security agencies to hunt down the attackers, who would face "severe punishment", the presidency said.

Plateau is one of several ethnically and religiously diverse hinterland states known as Nigeria's Middle Belt, where inter-communal conflict has claimed hundreds of lives in recent years.

The violence is often painted as ethno-religious conflict between Muslim herders and mainly Christian farmers. But climate change and the reduction of grazing land through agricultural expansion are also major factors.