The death toll in clashes between herdsmen and farmers in Plateau state in central Nigeria has risen from 30 to 85, a local official announced Thursday.

The head of the Local Government Council, Minister Dabot Daniel, told AFP that after the attacks that took place on Monday in Mango district, "85 bodies have been recovered."

He added that a number of people were injured, without specifying their number, while "many homes were destroyed and a large number of people were displaced."

The government's Emergency Management Agency also stated that "thousands of people are on the roads looking for safe places to go" in the aftermath of the attacks.

The region straddles the dividing line between the predominantly Muslim north of Nigeria and the predominantly Christian south. It has been witnessing for years the acts of ethnic and religious nose.

It is not yet clear what caused the recent outbreak of violence, but mutual killings between cattle herders and farmers often end in attacks by heavily armed gangs on villages.

The agency's director of search and rescue operations, Johnny Bala, said the agency's team visited the area on Wednesday.

"We could see houses still burning," Bala told AFP. "We couldn't get any closer because the guys were angry."
Police announced Thursday that they had arrested five people in connection with the violence.

"The deployment of a heavy security presence," police spokesman Alfred Alabou confirmed in a statement. "So far, calm has returned to the Mango Local Government area in general, while monitoring operations are continuing," he said.