35 Nigerians killed; president meets security chiefs

LAGOS

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has called an emergency national security meeting for Thursday, as a new bout of violence claimed 35 lives in northern Nigeria since Tuesday.

"President Jonathan has summoned members of the National Security Council (NSC) to a meeting tomorrow at the presidential villa against the background of recent events and developments in the country," spokesman Reuben Abati said in a statement.

The NSC includes the president, vice president, defense minister, national security adviser, chief of defense staff, the three military service chiefs, head of the secret police, the National Intelligence Agency chief and the police inspector-general, among others.

"The meeting will be followed at 13:00 hours by an enlarged meeting on security developments in the country, to which President Jonathan has invited governors," Abati said.

The developments emerged as fresh violence ripped through the northeastern states of Borno and Taraba, where a total of 35 people were killed between Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

Gunmen believed to be Boko Haram fighters invaded Wala village in the Gwoza local government area of Borno, killing about 18 civilians.

"They killed up to 18 people in Wala this morning at about 6:30am," local resident Ibrahim Gwoza told Anadolu Agency.

"Our houses were set on fire," he added. "We are in pain. Sadness is everywhere."

A security official who asked not to be named said Boko Haram militants had also launched a deadly attack on the Sabon-Kasuwa area on Tuesday night.

"They killed the monarch who we heard was just finishing his prayers. Another man was also killed, making it two," he told AA. "They also destroyed property in the village."

A 24-hour curfew has now been imposed on Wukari village in the northeastern Taraba state, following what eyewitnesses described as deadly ethnic clashes between Fulani herdsmen and indigenous Jukun tribesmen.

Nyajon James, a Wukari resident, said about 15 people had been killed in clashes that lasted throughout Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning.

"It is a reprisal from the Jukun against attacks believed to have been launched by some Fulani herdsmen," he told AA.

"It was very bloody. About 15 people died," added James. "Some of us had to run away from the village because houses were being razed."

Police, for their part, have only confirmed seven fatalities from the Taraba violence.

englishnews@aa.com.tr