'Separatist' gunmen kill many and set homes ablaze in Nigeria

Gunmen killed 10 people and displaced many others in an attack on the Amegu Nkalaha community in the southeastern Nigeria's Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, police said on Monday.

The attackers believed to be members of the separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), also set fire to several homes and destroyed properties, police spokesperson Joshua Ukandu told Anadolu.

"Several houses were also burned selectively in the area, and other properties were destroyed.

Upon receiving the information, we deployed police operatives to the area," Ukandu said.

"We are currently investigating the incident, while normalcy has returned to the area," he added.

While southeastern Nigeria has faced frequent attacks by armed groups, insecurity in the region has also been fueled by clashes between herders and farmers, with farmland destruction and killings persisting despite calls for a nationwide ranching system.

Road accident claims dozens of lives

Meanwhile, the largest African nation, with its population, witnessed another deadly incident in Ondo State.

At least 30 people were killed over the weekend in a devastating road crash in the southwestern part of Nigeria, according to local media.

The accident, which occurred Saturday on the Benin-Ore-Ijebu Ode Expressway in the Onipetesi community in the Odigbo Local Government Area, involved two commercial buses heading east, according to PM News Nigeria.

Eyewitnesses reported that the collision caused both vehicles to ignite, leaving many passengers burned beyond recognition.

"Both buses were fully loaded. After the crash, 28 occupants died instantly, while two others succumbed to severe injuries on the way to the hospital," the State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Samuel Ibitoye, said Sunday in a statement.

Two survivors are receiving treatment for their injuries.