Religious violence claims 27 in Nigeria
Source: Agencies |
January 20, 2010, Wednesday
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RELIGIOUS violence between Christians and Muslims erupted again yesterday in Nigeria, as security forces issued a 24-hour curfew for the city of Jos, where rioters have burned homes and killed at least 27 people.
Security forces ordered everyone to remain indoors after police and soldiers' efforts to contain the violence with roadblocks and searches apparently failed. An Associated Press reporter could see smoke rising from the north side of Jos and hear the sounds of gunshots echoing in the streets.
Sani Mudi, a spokesman for the local imam, said that the fighting lasted about two hours yesterday morning. Mudi said he saw police moving about the area with soldiers from where he was hiding inside his home.
"We could hear gunshots all over the area," Mudi said.
Mohammed Larema, a local police spokesman, said security forces had brought the fighting to a halt.
"The situation is under control right now," Larema said.
However, the state government called for additional military units to enter the city. A major general for a Nigerian armored division toured parts of Jos to see what would be needed.
"The situation is bad and the federal government is yet to deploy the troops requested," said Gregory Yenlong, a state spokesman.
The Minister of Police Affairs, Ibrahim Yakubu Lame, issued a statement yesterday blaming the violence on "some highly placed individuals in the society who were exploiting the ignorance and poverty of the people to cause mayhem in the name of religion."
While religious violence does occur in Nigeria, it usually is rooted in local issues, rather than influence from international extremist groups.
Jos, the capital of Plateau State, has a history of community violence that has made elections difficult to organize. Rioting in 2001 killed more than 1,000 people and Muslim-Christian battles killed up to 700 people in 2004.
Jos is situated in Nigeria's "middle belt," where dozens of ethnic groups mingle in a band of fertile and hotly contested land separating the Muslim north from the predominantly Christian south.
More than 300 residents died during a similar uprising in 2008.
Rioting began on Sunday in the city after Muslim youths set a Catholic church ablaze. Witnesses said rioters armed with knives, homemade firearms and stones attacked passers-by and fought with security forces, leaving bodies in the street and stacked in local mosques.
Calm returned to the city on Monday, but police refused to offer any casualty count. Sani Mudi, a spokesman for the local imam, has said 22 people died on Sunday and more than 300 people were wounded in the fighting.
Security forces ordered everyone to remain indoors after police and soldiers' efforts to contain the violence with roadblocks and searches apparently failed. An Associated Press reporter could see smoke rising from the north side of Jos and hear the sounds of gunshots echoing in the streets.
Sani Mudi, a spokesman for the local imam, said that the fighting lasted about two hours yesterday morning. Mudi said he saw police moving about the area with soldiers from where he was hiding inside his home.
"We could hear gunshots all over the area," Mudi said.
Mohammed Larema, a local police spokesman, said security forces had brought the fighting to a halt.
"The situation is under control right now," Larema said.
However, the state government called for additional military units to enter the city. A major general for a Nigerian armored division toured parts of Jos to see what would be needed.
"The situation is bad and the federal government is yet to deploy the troops requested," said Gregory Yenlong, a state spokesman.
The Minister of Police Affairs, Ibrahim Yakubu Lame, issued a statement yesterday blaming the violence on "some highly placed individuals in the society who were exploiting the ignorance and poverty of the people to cause mayhem in the name of religion."
While religious violence does occur in Nigeria, it usually is rooted in local issues, rather than influence from international extremist groups.
Jos, the capital of Plateau State, has a history of community violence that has made elections difficult to organize. Rioting in 2001 killed more than 1,000 people and Muslim-Christian battles killed up to 700 people in 2004.
Jos is situated in Nigeria's "middle belt," where dozens of ethnic groups mingle in a band of fertile and hotly contested land separating the Muslim north from the predominantly Christian south.
More than 300 residents died during a similar uprising in 2008.
Rioting began on Sunday in the city after Muslim youths set a Catholic church ablaze. Witnesses said rioters armed with knives, homemade firearms and stones attacked passers-by and fought with security forces, leaving bodies in the street and stacked in local mosques.
Calm returned to the city on Monday, but police refused to offer any casualty count. Sani Mudi, a spokesman for the local imam, has said 22 people died on Sunday and more than 300 people were wounded in the fighting.
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