At least 5,000 people have fled villages in central Nigeria, the site of clashes between nomadic cattle herders and farmers occurred, officials said Thursday. At least five people have died in the fighting.

Authorities acknowledged there could be many more deaths as a result of violence that has hit rural Benue and Nasarawa states in Nigeria's fertile central belt. The area acts as a dividing line between religious and ethnic groups.

Remote villages remain difficult to reach and officials appear hesitant to publicise details of the attacks for fear of inflaming a region where such clashes are common.

The fighting began this week when Muslim Fulani cattle herders found some of their livestock dead, said Conrad Wergba, Benue state's information commissioner. The cattle herders retaliated by attacking villages of the Christian Tiv ethnic group in both Benue and Nasarawa states, he said. "It is an occurring problem. There is this conflict each time their cattle destroy the Tiv farmland during grazing."

The police and military were guarding the area, Wergba added.

Benue state police spokesman Ejike Alaribe said at least five people had died in the attacks, although he acknowledged that the toll may be higher. "That's official figures. Some others died but not in our state," Alaribe said. "It's a remote area. Most of the things that happen, they don't feel like going to report them to the appropriate authorities … It could be more."

Victoria Monde, the Nasarawa state information commissioner, referred questions to an employee who refused to give his name. He said the government had given food to refugees in multiple camps. Both the employee and Monde declined to comment further.

The Tiv represent one the largest of the minority ethnic groups in Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people and more than 250 different ethnicities. Clashes have previously occurred between Benue villagers and other groups over land issues. In 2001, during one of the worst spates of violence, Nigeria's federal government sent soldiers to the region who killed 200 villagers.