More than 2,000 displaced in Nigeria's largest state due to attacks: official

More than 2,000 people have been displaced by attacks caused by local cattle rustlers in central Nigeria's Niger State, an official said on Monday.

Ibrahim Inga, director general of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, told reporters the number of displaced people was growing in the country's largest state due to recent attacks by rustlers from neighboring states of Zamfara, Kebbi, Kaduna and Sokoto.

He said most of the victims are currently being sheltered in Rafi, Shiroro and Pandogari districts of the state.

The rescue agency had distributed relief materials to ease the living conditions of the displaced people, he added.

Attacks by cattle rustlers had increased in the past three weeks in Niger State whose land mass is 76, 469 square kilometers, about 10 percent of the total land area of Nigeria, Africa's most populous country.

Inga told Xinhua a joint military task force and police have been deployed to stem the tide of attacks and ensure security of lives and property throughout the state. Endit