Hundreds of people were killed in the central Nigerian city of Jos when Christians and Muslims clashed over the result of a local election, witnesses said Saturday.REUTERS:
"I was at the central mosque this afternoon and I counted 378 dead bodies but just as I was about to leave, 3 more bodies were brought, a correspondent for Radio France Internationale in Jos, Aminu Manu, told AFP.
"Hundreds of people have been killed in the last two days since the riots started. Remains of burnt bodies litter some parts of the town; it is so terrible," Christian clergyman Yakumu Pam said.
Local Radio Plateau said the governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, had placed four districts of the city placed under a curfew and ordered police to fire on anyone who broke it following the clashes on Friday.
Aminu Manu said incidents of violence were still being reported in the city Saturday.
"So far over 10,000 people have been displaced from their homes and are now seeking refuge in churches, mosques and army and police barracks," a Nigerian Red Cross official in Jos said.
Authorities imposed a night-time curfew on the capital of the central Plateau state and soldiers deployed on the streets after rival gangs burned churches, mosques and homes in a dispute triggered by a local election.
The unrest is the most serious of its kind in Africa's most populous nation, roughly equally split between Christians and Muslims, since President Umaru Yar'Adua took power in May 2007.
"Over 20 people died. Churches and mosques and 100 houses were burned down," a senior Red Cross official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. He said more than 300 people were injured.
Youths with machetes hacked to death a policeman and burned tires in one part of the city, sending plumes of thick black smoke into the air, witnesses said.
"All law-abiding citizens are assured that government is on top of the situation and should go about their normal lives," Jonah Jang, governor of Plateau state of which Jos is the capital, said in a broadcast.
Nigeria: Muslims Protesting Election Loss Riot, Hack Police Officer to Death With Machetes, Torch Churches....Christians Respond by Burning Down Mosques....
Nigeria
I know we're supposed to turn the other cheek, but when you've been attacked repeatedly by Muslim goon squads, you have the right to defend yourself.....
At least 20 people, including one policeman, have been killed in riots in the Nigerian city of Jos after local elections, aid workers say.
A local journalist told the BBC that Muslim opposition supporters had gone on the rampage when they heard their candidate to head the council had lost.
This sparked unrest in the religiously divided city, with Christians burning mosques and Muslims burning churches.
MUMBAI, NIGERIA, GAZA... HMMMM... WHAT DO ALL THESE HAVE IN COMMON?
TACTICS? NOT ALWAYS.
GOAL?
YES. IT'S GLOBAL JIHAD, STUPID
The mostly Christian-backed governing party, the People's Democratic Party, was declared to have won the state elections in Plateau state, of which Jos is the capital city.
The result was contested by the opposition All Nigeria People's Party, which has support from Muslims.
Violence started on Thursday night as groups of angry youths burnt tyres on the roads over reports of election rigging.
Bodies from the Muslim Hausa community were brought into the central mosque compound.
The local imam, Sheikh Khalid Abubakar, said more than 300 dead bodies were brought there on Saturday alone.
Those killed in the Christian community would probably be taken to the city morgue, raising the possibility that the total death toll could be much higher.
Police spokesman Bala Kassim said there were "many dead," but couldn't cite a firm number.
Despite the overnight curfew, groups in some areas took to the streets again as soon as police patrols had passed by.
Troubled past
In 2001, more than 1,000 people died in religious clashes in the city, situated in Nigeria's fertile "middle belt" that separates the Muslim north from the predominantly Christian south.
Gateway has more.
1 comment:
well 400 dead is lot of number.
Global Gifting Systems
Post a Comment