Monday, January 18, 2010
KANO: Clashes erupted between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria's central city of Jos Sunday, killing at least 10 people and prompting the government to impose a dusk-to-dawn curfew, residents and officials said.
The fighting started when Christian youths protested the building of a mosque in Christian-dominated Nassarawa Gwom district, where houses and vehicles were also set alight, residents said.
"Ten bodies have so far been brought to the hospital, some with gunshot wounds," a nurse at the Jos University Teaching Hospital told media on condition of anonymity.
Six wounded people were also admitted, all with deep cuts, he said.
A journalist in the city, a flashpoint for inter-religious violence, said he had seen nine bodies in the hospital and several wounded, some by machetes.
Several houses and vehicles were also torched, said the journalist, Musa Habibu.
"I was at the Jos University hospital where I saw nine dead bodies and six people injured with machete cuts on admission," he told media.
"I can see billows of dark smoke from burning houses in Nassarawa Gwom."
Three bodies had been taken to a mosque, said resident Mohammed Bashir.
"I saw three bodies at the central mosque where they were brought with bullet wounds. I can still hear gunshots an hour into the curfew," he said.
Authorities in Plateau State, of which Jos is the capital, confirmed the clashes but could not say how many people were killed or wounded.
"I can't give any casualty details because we are still awaiting a comprehensive report on the violence," state information commissioner Gregory Yenlong told media.
"The government has placed a 12-hour curfew, from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am, on the city following some violence in Nassarawa Gwom district of the city," he said.
He also said that he has requested for more security reinforcement from outside the state.
Plateau police spokesman Mohammed Lerema said the situation had been brought under control. "We have arrested 35 suspects, including five in military uniforms," he said.
KANO: Clashes erupted between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria's central city of Jos Sunday, killing at least 10 people and prompting the government to impose a dusk-to-dawn curfew, residents and officials said.
The fighting started when Christian youths protested the building of a mosque in Christian-dominated Nassarawa Gwom district, where houses and vehicles were also set alight, residents said.
"Ten bodies have so far been brought to the hospital, some with gunshot wounds," a nurse at the Jos University Teaching Hospital told media on condition of anonymity.
Six wounded people were also admitted, all with deep cuts, he said.
A journalist in the city, a flashpoint for inter-religious violence, said he had seen nine bodies in the hospital and several wounded, some by machetes.
Several houses and vehicles were also torched, said the journalist, Musa Habibu.
"I was at the Jos University hospital where I saw nine dead bodies and six people injured with machete cuts on admission," he told media.
"I can see billows of dark smoke from burning houses in Nassarawa Gwom."
Three bodies had been taken to a mosque, said resident Mohammed Bashir.
"I saw three bodies at the central mosque where they were brought with bullet wounds. I can still hear gunshots an hour into the curfew," he said.
Authorities in Plateau State, of which Jos is the capital, confirmed the clashes but could not say how many people were killed or wounded.
"I can't give any casualty details because we are still awaiting a comprehensive report on the violence," state information commissioner Gregory Yenlong told media.
"The government has placed a 12-hour curfew, from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am, on the city following some violence in Nassarawa Gwom district of the city," he said.
He also said that he has requested for more security reinforcement from outside the state.
Plateau police spokesman Mohammed Lerema said the situation had been brought under control. "We have arrested 35 suspects, including five in military uniforms," he said.
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