Nigeria ethnic violence 'leaves hundreds dead'
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Monday, March 08, 2010
Hundreds of people, including many women and children, were killed in ethnic violence near the city of Jos in Nigeria at the weekend, officials say.
They said villages had been attacked by men with machetes who came from nearby hills.
Troops have now been deployed in the area and dozens of arrests are said to have been made.
Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered security forces to prevent more weapons being brought into the area.
Jos has been under a military curfew since January when at least 200 people died in clashes between Christians and Muslims.
The latest attacks are said to have been reprisals for the January killings.
The AFP news agency reports that the villages are now calm after troops and military vehicles entered them.
An adviser to the Christian-dominated Plateau state government, Dan Manjang, told AFP: "We have been able to make 95 arrests but at the same time over 500 people have been killed in this heinous act."
Another Plateau state official, Gregory Yenlong, urged people to "remain calm and be patient as the government steps up security to protect lives and property in this state".
Many of the dead in the villages of Zot and Dogo-Nahawa are reported to be women and children.
Chief Gabriel Gyang Bot, from nearby Shen, told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that people in his village feared more attacks.
He said he had received text messages from people who claimed responsibility for the weekend attacks and had threatened to return.