At least 140 killed in Nigeria attacks - officials
STORY: Christian Emmanuel says he'd just been celebrating Christmas when the gunmen attacked.
"They came around 10 o'clock and started shooting guns."
He lives in Nigeria's central Plateau state, where suspected nomadic herders rampaged through 15 villages at the weekend, according to officials, police and residents.
At least 140 people have been reported killed, in what has been described as the bloodiest such violence since 2018.
"(Pidgin) I started to run, but they caught up with me and shot me. I fell down and started crying that they should spare me, but they said they won't leave me. Then I begged them and they shot me again."
Emmanuel says he pretended to be dead, and that the attackers then picked up his gun and left.
It is not known what triggered the latest bloodshed.
However, experts and politicians says climate change and expanding agriculture are contributing to the conflict.
As northern Nigeria becomes drier and more prone to drought and floods, the mainly Muslim Fulani herders based there are forced further south.
But there they come up against mostly Christian farmers who are expanding production to feed a rapidly growing population.
That creates tensions over land, supporting a view that the conflict is about resources rather than any religious or ethnic differences between the groups.
President Bola Tinubu described the latest attacks as "primitive and cruel."
He is yet to detail how he intends to tackle widespread insecurity across Nigeria, but said he had directed police to track down those responsible for the most recent bloodshed.
