ICC 'must probe Nigeria religious violence in Jos'
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Monday, February 01, 2010
A Nigerian rights group has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate violence between Muslims and Christians in the city of Jos.
The group, known as Serap, wrote to ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asking him to open an inquiry into the deaths of 326 people in the riots.
The activists also want the army and police investigated over claims they used excessive force to restore order.
Muslims and Christians fought with each other for several days in January.
The official death toll was given by police as 326 - although other estimates are much higher, with Muslim officials saying that 364 Muslims were killed.
Christian leaders have not yet confirmed a death toll - although earlier estimates said around 65 Christians had died.
More than 300 people have been arrested.
Violence erupted in Jos on 17 January and rapidly spread to nearby villages.
Several thousand people remain displaced, having abandoned their homes to escape the violence.
Jos, the capital of Plateau state, lies between Nigeria's mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south and has seen sectarian riots in the recent past.
But analysts say the real cause of the violence is a struggle for political superiority in the city.