Officials in Nigeria have said that at least 46 policemen were ambushed and killed by local militia in Nasarawa State on Thursday.

The police were attacked and killed near the shrine to the traditional deity of the Eggon people, in the village of Alakyo, near the state capital, Lafia.

The Nasarawa State police spokesman Sergie Ezegam told the BBC African Service that the policemen were on their way to arrest the leader of the outlawed Ombatse cult when gunmen opened fire on them.

“Forty-six police officers were killed about 10 km (6 miles) from Lafia by members of a militia who had ambushed them on their way to an operation to arrest the leader of the militia group,” Mr.  Ezegam told reporters.

Local media quoted Nassarawa State Governor Tanko Al-Makura as saying the attack was carried out by a cult called Ombatse, meaning “the time has come” in the local Eggon language.

The group has attacked officials, churches and mosques in the past, he said, but added that this week’s assault signified a marked escalation in the scale of its operations.

“Two weeks ago, we discovered a certain militia group holding arms and carrying out cult activities in the state Since January, this thing has not abated and in the past two weeks, it has taken on a totally different dimension,’’ Al-Makura was quoted by local press.

President Goodluck Jonathan has cut short his trip to South Africa and Namibia to return home on Thursday and oversee efforts to contain threats to Nigerian security, highlighted by this week’s bloodshed in the country.

A statement from the president’s office said Mr. Jonathan was returning to Abuja “to personally oversee efforts by national security agencies to contain the fresh challenges to national security which have emerged this week in Borno, Plateau and Nasarawa States”.

Nasarawa police Chief Abayomi Akeremale also said about 60 police officers came under attack on Tuesday in the same village when they decided to arrest the cult leader.

“We decided to send our men to the area to arrest members of Ombatse, including their priest, they have been going to churches and mosques initiating people into their cult by forcefully administering an allegiance oath to unwilling people, Mr. Akeremale said.

The ambush came after 55 people were reportedly killed in the north-east of Nigeria in co-ordinated attacks by the Boko Haram militant group.

The Eggon community is a microcosm of Nigeria – they are said to be evenly divided between Christians and Muslims but many people continue to follow traditional religions.

There are about 250 different ethnic groups in Nigeria, some with their own traditional belief systems and cultural practices.

Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News