Armed with guns, machetes, torches, and bows and arrows, Christian and Muslim antagonists in central Nigeria’s religiously volatile city of Jos have been fighting for three days in sporadic clashes that have left dozens dead, witnesses and local news accounts said Tuesday. It was difficult to ascertain the precise toll in Jos, the scene of frequent religious violence over the past decade. Estimates ranged from 30 to 300 deaths, as the city was still consumed by mayhem Tuesday evening, with security forces descending on Jos in an attempt to contain it.
Gunshots could be heard throughout the city, and smoke from burning buildings was visible everywhere, witnesses said. “This morning there was smoke, and a lot of shooting by the military personnel,” said Shimaki Gad Peter, director of the League for Human Rights, which is based in Jos, in a telephone interview. The violence began Sunday when Muslim youths attacked a church, according to Mr. Peter, “and they were resisted by church members.” Subsequently, “innocent persons were macheted,” Mr. Peter said. “I saw youths holding bows and arrows, and machetes,” he said. While “the majority” of people killed Sunday appeared to be Christians, he said, there was now a “balance of terror” among the religious groups.
The Rev. Emmanuel Joel of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria said, “Personally, I have seen over 100 bodies.” He said he had seen the bodies in Red Cross trucks going to the morgue. Mr. Joel said Jos was “still boiling.” He was critical of the security forces’ efforts to contain the violence, saying, “While they are trying to contain it in one area, it is breaking out in another area.”
Government spokesmen could not be reached for comment. News reports said a curfew had been imposed on the city. “Nobody comes in, nobody goes out,” Mr. Joel said. “We are all scared of coming out, standing outside.” Several thousand people have been killed in religious rioting in Jos since 2001. The city is situated near the frontier between Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north and the mostly Christian south. “All we see is smoke coming out of burnt structures,” Mr. Joel said. “And gunshots, seriously.”
Source: New York Times
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