Nigeria: dozens killed in riots

Jan 31st, 2011

Dozens of people were killed in clashes between Muslim and Christian communities in two areas of central Nigeria, Bauchi and Jos, over the weekend.

According to Father John Keane, representative of Bauchi diocese, youths of the two main Christian and Muslim ethnic groups fought each other. Attacks and punitive expeditions left at least 20 dead and displaced some 4,000 more people, according to Nigerian Red Cross estimates. Youths also clashed near the university campus in Jos, leaving at one person dead.

"The violence is linked to unemployment and the tension over the April presidential, legislative and local elections", said Fr Keane. A spokesman for the Archbishop's office said that hundreds of women yesterday held a protest today outside the governor's office in the city centre to protest against inefficient and often indiscriminate police and army interventions.

Source: MISNA/CSW

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