Nigeria: Curfew in Jos amid exploding violence

By Muhammad Tanko Shittu:

A central Nigerian city caught up in intercommunal tensions remained under 24-hour curfew on Thursday, two days after the second attack this month killed at least 16 people. Jos in central Plateau State, on the dividing line between the mostly Muslim north and mainly Christian south in Africa’s most populous nation, has been a flashpoint for years with tit-for-tat clashes.  Gunmen raided the predominantly Christian village of Yelwa Zangam on Tuesday night, killing at least 16 people and destroying houses, according to a hospital official and local authorities. That attack came just over a week after police blamed a suspected Christian militia for attacking buses carrying Muslim travellers, killing at least 23 people on the outskirts of Jos city.

Survivors of Tuesday’s raid on Yelwa Zangam said more people had been burned alive in their homes during the attack when the gunmen damaged a bridge linking the village to impede security forces. “When they were shooting in the air with guns, even the army could not stand them, so we ran into the bush,” said Yakubu Baguda, a community leader who said his brother and son were killed. “Some of us entered houses thinking they could escape, but they did not, except those of us who entered the bush.”

With more than 250 ethnic groups, Nigeria often sees intercommunal tensions. But the Jos attacks came as the country faces a surge in kidnapping and violence in northeast and central states, often attributed to criminal gangs known locally as bandits. Local TV images showed angry youths protesting outside the Jos government house on Wednesday, with a truck carrying some of the bodies of those killed in the attack as they demanded justice. The victims were buried on Thursday. An AFP reporter in the area said the streets were mostly quiet in Jos North region, which includes Jos city, where the 24-hour curfew was in effect.

Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong urged calm to prevent “hoodlums” from taking advantage of the situation. Some village residents blamed members of the Fulani Muslim community for Tuesday’s attack, a charge one community leader dismissed. “This has been a frequent accusation when a community is attacked. We are often blamed for any attack, but it is not true,” said Garba Abdullahi Muhammed. “What is the evidence that shows the attack was carried out by the Fulani?”

A spokesman for the predominantly Christian Irigwe people had also denied Irigwe youths were responsible for the earlier attack on the Muslim travellers. For years, Jos has been a sensitive area for ethnic and religious strife between Christian and Muslim youths. Clashes in 2001 left around 900 people, according to rights groups.

AFP