Authorities in Nigeria’s north-central state of Nasarawa say 26 more bodies have been recovered following a reported air strike on pastoralists on Tuesday.
Fulani socio-cultural organisation Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore spokesman, Tasiu Sulaiman, confirmed the development to the BBC.
It means the death toll now stands at 54, but police have not updated their official tally which still stands at 28 deaths.
The police spokesperson in Nasarawa, Ramhan Nansel, says the herders were returning from Makurdi in next-door Benue state, where they had gone to retrieve more than 1,000 cows seized by the Benue Livestock Guards.
But an independent press release distribution agency with links to the military in Nigeria, PRNigeria, reports that a reliable source informed the news site that the air strike was ordered after the military high command received credible intelligence that Islamist militants had moved into some communities around the boundary between Nasarawa and Benue states.
The military is yet to give a clear account of the incident.
Nasarawa state Governor Abdullahi Sule condemned the act, saying that he was in touch with his Benue counterpart over the matter, as security agencies continue their investigations.