Eight people in Nigeria were killed early Saturday when Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacked Christians, a Plateau state official told CNN. The incident occurred in Maza, a village north of the city of Jos, according to Choji Gyang, special adviser on religious affairs to the governor of the Nigerian state of plateau.

Gyang said the army rolled in to restore order and shot at least two people. He said the situation is under control now.

The region lies on a faith-based fault line between Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria and the mainly Christian south.

Sectarian violence erupted earlier this year between Muslims and Christians, hostilities fueled by social and economic problems as well as ethnic factors.