At least 12 people were killed early Thursday following a communal clash which erupted in Nigeria’s southern state of Cross River, police and local sources said.
Sources said dozens of other residents were also wounded and rushed to hospital, most of them having deep cuts, as members of two local communities in Abi local government area of the state fought over a boundary.
Police said several houses were burned during the melee but security operatives had quelled it.
Nkereuwem Akpan, the spokesman for the police in Cross River, said he was not sure of the total number of casualties while confirming the incident to Xinhua.
Local sources, however, said they counted up to 12 bodies around the center of the violence that lasted several hours on Thursday.
Up to 20 people were taken to nearby hospitals, said a community leader.
XINHUA
