Inside Story

Why has Nigeria failed to deal with recurrent violence in Plateau state?

Hundreds of people have been killed and injured in attacks by armed groups.

The Nigerian government says at least 160 people were killed in attacks by armed groups on remote farming communities at the weekend.

It’s the worst violence in the central Plateau state in more than five years.

No group has claimed responsibility but nomadic herders are believed to be responsible.

Herders and farmers have been locked in a decades-long conflict over access to land and water.

Why has the Nigerian government failed to prevent these attacks?

And what does it mean for the country’s wider security problem – as it faces challenges on multiple fronts?

Presenter: Laura Kyle

Guests:

Isa Sanusi – Nigeria country director at Amnesty International and a former journalist

Chris Kwaja – Associate professor at Centre for Peace and Security Studies at Nigeria’s Modibbo Adama University and country director for USIP – the United States Institute of Peace

Musa Ashoms – Commissioner of Information and Communication for the Plateau state government in Nigeria