Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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November 30, 2008

Calm Gradually Returns to Nigerian City After Riots
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=20B933B:A6F02AD83191E16066EBB25CE205148F7F0EB4B66EA3A89D&
 
Soldiers restore order after several people killed, hundreds injured in
two days of clashes between Christians and Muslims in riot-hit Jos 
Reports from the central Nigerian city of Jos say calm is slowly
returning after two days of post-election clashes between Muslims and
Christians. In Abuja, Gilbert da Costa reports governments troops have
taken control of the streets in Jos, though some incidents of sporadic
violence were still being reported. Soldiers with the authority to use
deadly force to restore order have increased security and are patrolling
the streets of riot-hit Jos. Several people were reported killed and
hundreds injured in two days of clashes between Christians and Muslims.
Local residents say sporadic gunfire could still be heard in some parts
of the city, though security has improved. The president of the 50,000
strong motorcycle taxi drivers association in Plateau state, of which
Jos is the capital, is Shehu Babangida. He told VOA at least 500 people
have been killed in two days of post-election violence as mobs burned
homes, churches and mosques."At the moment, I can authoritatively tell
you that there are over 500 dead people at the Masalaci [central
mosque], apart from serious destruction of property, homes, shops and
cars and so on and so forth," he said. Officials say the final count
could be much higher as the death toll did not include hospital figures,
victims already buried, or those taken to other places of worship. The
Red Cross says thousands of people have fled their homes and are seeking
refuge in government buildings and religious centers. Some of those
displaced say they have had little help from the authorities. Among a
group of 10,000 Hausa Muslims sheltering at a local primary school is
Abdullahi Mohammed."We are more than 10,000 people - men, children and
women. We are choked in one place. We don't have water, no food, not
even medicine to take of those who are injured and the children. We
don't have Red Cross or any organization looking after us. I don't
understand what the government is doing. Government did not recognize
where we are," said Mohammed. "They did not even mention us in their
media that the people 
of Tudun Wada are now refugees."A spokesman for Plateau State Governor
Jonah Jang said hundreds of youths found to be carrying weapons had been
arrested at military roadblocks. The tensions in Plateau have roots in
decades of resentment by indigenous minority groups, mostly Christian or
animist, toward migrants and settlers from Nigeria's Hausa-speaking
Muslim north.

 

 


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