Nigeria: Over 150,000 displaced people return home

By Adam Abu Bashal

ABUJA, Nigeria (AA) - A total of 157,000 displaced people in Nigeria staying in camps -- including women and children -- due to clashes between farmers and herders have returned home, a security official said on Friday.

Spokesperson for the country's “Whirl Stroke” operation, Major-General Adeyemi Yekini, said the security of the Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states were secured.

Nearly 200,000 people returned home, Yetkini said, adding that a large number of armed terrorists were neutralized and scores of weapons and ammunition were seized in the operations launched in several states.

Since January, hundreds of people have lost their lives and thousands other have been forced to leave their homes due to the clashes between farmers and herders.

Nigeria's agrarian belt -- especially the Benue, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara states -- has recorded huge casualties from unabated clashes between farmers and herders.

Hundreds have died in the violence this year alone as herdsmen resisted a law banning open grazing in some of the states.