LAGOS, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Thirty-two persons have been confirmed dead over the weekend in renewed attacks by suspected herdsmen in central Nigeria's Nasarawa State.

According to the Lagos-based The Nation newspaper, the attackers carried out the dastardly act in Awe, Keana, Obi and Doma local government areas of the state.

The report said 19 others sustained injuries from machete cut, noting that over 10,000 Tiv villagers were trapped along the Agwatashi-Jangwa road after the marauding herdsmen sacked over 200 villages.

The raids by nomadic Fulani herdsmen are considered as the biggest security threat facing Nigeria after the Boko Haram insurgency.

The herdsmen, mainly from the Fulani ethnic group, and farmers often clash for control of water and land (grazing territories).

According to the Global Terrorism Index, over 1,200 people were killed in 2014 by different groups of Fulani herders. In 2016, more people died in clashes with the herdsmen than in Boko Haram attacks.