Abuja - After scores of people were killed in riots
following local elections, Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua Friday
ordered the Nigerian military to take charge in Jos, the capital city
of central Nigeria's Plateau State.
Olusegun Adeniyi, special advisor to the president, said Yar'Adua
had met with the relevant security chiefs, where he gave the order.
He had also been briefed by Plateau governor Jonah Jang.
Earlier in the day, Jang had announced a dusk-to-dawn curfew in
Jos and the environs, from 6 pm to 6 am, until peace returns to the
areas. He warned that any further disruptions would be met with
drastic sanctions.
'The government will not allow a repeat of the destruction of the
peace ... witnessed some years back,' Jang said.
A police spokesman in Plateau, Bala Kassimm, said security
agencies had not been able to determine the exact number of people
killed. He said that mosques, churches and other valuable property
were razed by the combatants.
Reports of sporadic shooting in the council area and of arson
continued through Friday.
Local reports said that the violence was between indigenous people
and settlers, who have been calling the shots for decades.
No results had yet been declared in any of the elections in the 17
council areas of the state when the violence broke out.
Kassim said that residents of the area were taking refuge at the
police headquarters in Jos and that reinforcements had been deployed
to the Plateau State capital from the further northern city of Kano
to assist in restoring peace.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story