Deadly Christian-Muslim clash in central Nigeria
Clashes broke out between Christians and Muslims in tense central Nigeria on Monday, with witnesses reporting a number of deaths as well as vehicles and at least two shops set ablaze.
The head of a search-and-rescue team for the Muslim community in the city of Jos, where the clashes occurred, reported nine dead and 106 people wounded, but there was no official confirmation.
Information commissioner for Plateau state Yiljap Abraham said “there are casualties, but the police will give that later.”
Plateau state Police Commissioner Emmanuel Dipo Ayeni confirmed there had been some fighting, but could not say if people were killed.
Witnesses and community leaders claimed varying numbers of deaths.
“We have recovered nine bodies from the violence and so far 106 people have been injured,” said Shitu Mohammed, head of the rescue team.
“Most of the wounds were from … thrown missiles, machete cuts and from arrows. Twenty parents have so far reported their underage children missing.”
Witnesses told AFP that a group of Muslims had gone to a prayer ground in Jos, the capital of Plateau state, to mark the end of Ramadan when they were surrounded by residents of the Christian-dominated neighbourhood.
The residents would not allow them to leave and violence resulted, with motorcycles and cars burnt. An AFP journalist saw two shops burnt.
Gunshots could be heard, believed to be soldiers firing into the air in a bid to clear the crowds.
A witness said Christians involved in the clashes spoke of preventing Muslims from marking their holiday in revenge for a string of bombs that exploded in Jos on Christmas Eve last year.
Soldiers evacuated the Muslims who had gone to pray from the area.
Jos and the surrounding area has been hit by waves of violence between Christian and Muslim ethnic groups that have left hundreds dead in recent years.
The region lies in the so-called Middle Belt between the mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south of Africa’s most populous nation.