At least 50 Nigerians have been killed in riots in the northern village of Numan, triggered when Muslims refused to halt construction of a controversial mosque.

Numan’s Muslims are rebuilding their main mosque after it was destroyed on June 8 last year, when 100 people where killed in a riot triggered by the murder of a Christian evangelist, Esther Jinkai, by a Muslim water seller.

Zalwalie said the reconstruction project ran into opposition from a chief of the Bachama tribe, Numan’s Christian majority group, who claimed the mosque’s minaret is taller than its predecessor and overlooks his palace courtyard.

“The issue was brought to the attention of the local council which ordered a suspension of work on the minaret pending an amicable resolution of the dispute,” Zalwalie explained.

“However, the Muslims insisted on continuing with the work yesterday and the Christians objected. This led to the clash,” he said, adding that police and soldiers had been deployed to the town to restore order.

It was not immediately clear whether the victims of the fighting were Muslims, Christians or people from both sides of the divide.