Authorities imposed a curfew in the area after the attack.

The attackers were ethnic Fulani, a group of mostly nomadic pastoralists engaged in a long-standing conflict with farmers over limited access to water and land, Ephraim said.

Before the shooting, a fight broke out between some villagers and a small group of Fulani men. The latter left the scene and later returned in larger numbers with guns and machetes, the government spokesman said.

“They were strategically stationed in certain places and started to open fire in the community. They even chased them into their homes. Wherever you hide, they will shoot you,” Ephraim added.

Such attacks are not rare in Nigeria, especially in the hard-hit northern part of the country. The pastoral conflict has evolved into several armed groups committing acts of violence for years in defiance of government and security measures.

On Sunday, youths in the Ungwan Wakili community, where Saturday’s attack took place, protested the killings, accusing Nigerian soldiers of failing to stop the violence despite being in the area at the time.