Sectarian clashes in Nigeria’s Jos kill three

Reuters

Tue Apr 6, 2010

JOS, Nigeria (Reuters) – Three Nigerians were killed in clashes between Christian and Muslim gangs in the central city of Jos, where hundreds have died in similar violence this year, a military spokesman said on Tuesday.

A rally by the Christian Association of Nigeria briefly turned violent on Monday when members of the group fought with a Muslim mob. Police said the situation was now under control and no further violence was reported on Tuesday.

« Unfortunately, in the course of the pandemonium, three persons lost their lives and some were injured, » said Brigadier General Donald Oji, spokesman for the region’s special task force.

The military has imposed a curfew on much of Plateau State since January, when sectarian violence killed more than 400 people.

After the January unrest, clashes flared again in March with attacks on the mostly Christian villages of Dogo Nahawa, Zot and Ratsat just south of Jos, in which hundreds more people were killed.

Plateau State, of which Jos is the capital, lies at the crossroads of Nigeria’s Muslim north and Christian south, a region known as the « Middle Belt ».

Fierce competition for control of fertile farmlands between Christian and animist indigenous groups and Muslim settlers from the north have repeatedly triggered unrest in the region over the past decade.

One dead in fresh sectarian clashes in central Nigeria

AFP

6 4 2010

JOS — Fresh clashes erupted Monday between groups of Christian and Muslim youths in Nigeria’s central city of Jos, leaving one dead as security forces restored order, a senior state official said.

« There was a clash, a very minor clash that led to the death of one youth, a Christian youth, » Information Commissioner for Plateau State, Gregory Yenlong told AFP.

Police spokesman Mohammed Lerama also confirmed the attack, which appeared to have been staged on a group of Christians returning from a church rally, but he did not give any details.

The military and police swiftly moved in to stamp out the unrest which broke out around 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) in the Nassarawa Gwom area, the epicentre of the January clashes.

The sizes of the clashing groups could not be immediately established.

« Unknown to the Christian youths some people just blocked their way along the road and started chanting war songs, » said Yenlong.

« Security forces came in and brought the situation under control. Unfortunately it was the security forces that killed the youth, » he said. He said another person who was wounded was being treated for cuts, but he could not establish what caused the wounds.

More forces have been deployed, the information chief said.

Hundreds of people have died in sectarian violence in Jos and its environs since January.

Last month police said over 100 people — mainly Christians – were killed by Muslim Fulani cattle herders, although state officials say at least 500 perished in the attacks targetting Christian villagers.

In January, over 300 people — mostly Muslims — died in clashes in and around Jos.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is divided almost in the middle between the two faiths. Plateau, of which Jos is the capital, is a de facto buffer as it straddles the mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south.

~ par Alain Bertho sur 6 avril 2010.

Publié dans émeutes, riots