International   

Muslims flee Nigerian city

ONITSHA (Nigeria): Muslims fled this southeast Nigerian city and corpses still smoldered in its streets on Thursday as two days of sectarian violence that killed more than 80 persons appeared to subside.

Onitsha has borne the brunt of a wave of sectarian violence across the country, sparked by weekend protests against caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed. The violence is the worst of its kind since 2004, when Muslim-Christian skirmishes in northern Plateau and Kano states killed more than 700 persons. Thousands of people have died in religious violence, often interwoven with ethnic rivalries, since 2000.

Emeka Umeh, who heads leading human rights group Civil Liberties Organization in Anambra state, said at least 80 persons were killed in the city.

A spokeswoman for the Nigerian Red Cross, Umo Okon, said there were 925 victims of violence in Onitsha over the two days, including deaths, injuries and people displaced from their homes. She did not have an exact breakdown.

On the outskirts of Onitsha, several hundred Muslims fled, boarding trucks headed north. Nigeria is roughly divided between a predominantly Muslim north and a mainly Christian south. — AP

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Muslims flee Nigerian city
E.U. talks on bird flu today
France seals off farm
Dubai firm safe to run ports: Bush
"Embarrassing" details of Charles views
Biggest cash robbery in British history
Execution called off again
Roof collapse kills 45
Denmark to host religious meet
Sectarian clashes rock Iraq
Europe's answer to MIT
Two dead in quake

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu