Several deaths reported in fresh ethnic fighting

Several people have been killed and hundreds displaced in a fresh outbreak of fighting in central Nigeria between members of the Tiv ethnic group and neighbouring Hausa speakers, AFP reported on Thursday.

The French news agency said the clashes have affected a number of towns and villages in Nasarawa State, to the east of the capital, Abuja. They were sparked by the killing last week of a Hausa traditional ruler, which his people blamed on Tivs. The report said hundreds of Tivs, who are a minority in Nasarawa State, have fled Nasarawa for neighbouring Benue State, where they constitute the majority.

Local newspapers had been reporting growing tension in the area since the traditional ruler, Musa Ibrahim - also a leading landowner in Nasarawa - was ambushed and killed by unknown gunmen while driving along a highway. In April violence had broken out between the two groups over allegations by Tivs that Ibrahim was enchroaching on their land.