Gunmen kill at least 24 in central Nigeria

Attackers wielding guns and machetes killed at least two dozen people in central Nigeria's Plateau state, survivors told AFP on Tuesday, the latest flare-up in a state plagued by recurring communal violence.

Muslim ethnic Fulani nomadic herders have long clashed with settled farmers in Plateau, many of whom are Christian, over access to land and resources.

"We were sleeping, we heard some noises, some people in our neighbourhood were screaming," Mathew Joseph, of Bin-Per village, in Mangu local government area, told AFP of the Monday night attack.

"I looked through the window and saw some armed men approaching our house. Before they arrived we managed to escape," he said.

He said that 24 people had been killed, the same toll given by resident Muftwan Yamput, who said his neighbours were slain.

"We survived by the whisker, but my neighbours were attacked, two people killed in their house," he told AFP.

Local Red Cross field officer Biplang Moses confirmed the incident without specifying a toll.