Nairobi/Abuja - Calm returned to the Nigeria on Monday
following weekend clashes between Christians and Muslims in the city
of Jos, the capital of central Plateau State, as hospitals were
failing to cope with the number of casualties reports.
Doctors were not able to keep up with hundreds of victims of
gunshots and stab wounds, while severe shortages of medicines and
dressing materials were also causing problems, a spokesman of the aid
organization Oxfam told the British Broadcasting Corporation.
At least 200 people were reported killed in the clashes that
erupted over the weekend after local elections in the state. A local
cleric earlier estimated the number of fatalities at more than 300.
The Nigerian Red Cross Sunday also estimated that 10,000 people
had fled the violence in Plateau state, which is located between the
predominantly Islamic North and the Christian South of the country.
Hundreds of people had sought refuge in police stations and
military barracks, and have refused to return to their homes despite
the lull in violence.
A federal spokesman blamed external forces for prompting the
unrest. Some of those arrested in the clashes were from Chad and
Congo, he told the BBC. He accused the foreign forces of wanting to
destabilize Nigeria.
Jos has a history of sectarian violence between indigenous
Christians and Muslim settlers. More than 1,000 people were killed in
clashes seven years ago, and mosques, churches and other
properties had been razed to the ground in the violence.
Gun battles between security agents and the protesters continued
as the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission announced
Saturday that the ruling People's Democratic Party won in 16 of the
17 council areas.
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