200 Dead, 300 Wounded in Nigerian Religious Crisis

By: Victor Ulasi, Nigeria

Over 200 people were killed in a recent rash of religious violence in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria on Sunday 7 March 2010.  Islamic farmers attacked three Christian villages with guns, machetes and other weapons in the early hours of Sunday morning which left hundreds dead.

WorldNewsVine reports that the suspected Islamic farmers, who were heavily armed stormed the Berom villages of Dogo Nahawa, Ramsat and Kamang, in the Shen region of Jos South Local Government Area of Nigeria at 3.00 am Sunday.  Gun shots rang in the air as the Islamic farmers invaded the villages.  As the villagers seeked cover, the suspected farmers shot at will.  The deavstated villages were a horrific sight with corpses of men, women and children laying in the open alongside the many wounded.  Countless homes, and properties were also destroyed.

According to an eyewitnesses who spoke with WorldNewsVine, the assailants are believed to be Fulani, the language reportedly heard during the attacks.  The farmers attacked people in their sleep, and began firing shots into the air yelling for the people to come out of their homes at which point further violence ensued.

According to reports, military units began surrounding the villages around the same time journalists and officials visited the areas.  “It appears to be reprisal attacks,” said State Commissioner of Information Gregroy Yenlong.  He also said up to 500 people were killed and many others were being treated at various hospitals in the state.

“It is nothing but ethnic cleansing,” Yenlong told newsmen shortly after visiting the attacked villages. He said all three villages attacked were Berom villages, making the state government to suspect that it was aimed at a particular ethnic group and that  preliminary reports on the attack support the indication that the attackers were Fulani.   Yenlong also said the government suspects former state secretary of the PDP Saleh Bayeri of having foreknowledge of the attack because he had been making statements inciting the Fulani people against the Beroms.

Nevertheless, Bayeri denied this, stating that since the attack on the Fulani in Kim Kim and Kuru Karama in January, he had been appealing to his people to be calm. He wondered why the state government was swift to point at a suspect over the latest killings when it failed to name a single person when the Fulani were killed in January.

In the wake of this recent violence, the Acting President of Nigeria has ordered security agencies to be on red alert in Jos, Plateau State which may soon be declared in a state of emergency.

Posted by worldnews on March 8, 2010. Filed under International Criminal Justice,International News,International Politics,WorldNewsVine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.