‘Hundreds’ die in Nigeria violence
Gangs wielding machetes are feared to have killed hundreds of people in religious violence in Nigeria – the Archbishop of Jos tells Channel 4 News it was systematic and organised.
Several hundred people are feared to have died in the attacks on villages around the Nigerian city of Jos, which are thought to have been retaliation following sectarian clashes in January.
Aid workers struggled to assess the death toll in three predominantly Christian settlements near Jos, where the attacks took place on Sunday.
Local people accused Muslim herders from the surrounding hills of launching what appeared to be reprisal attacks in the early hours.
Witnesses have counted more than 100 bodies in the Dogo Nahawa community, but victims were also brought to hospitals in Jos and some were quickly buried, making it difficult for officials to assess the toll.
The Archbishop of Jos, Rev Benjamin Kwashi, told Channel 4 News: “The attack was quite systematic and quite well organised. It didn’t leave the villagers with any chance to escape at all.
“If you look at the cuts, you will see that they are sharp knives and most of the cuts are at the back and neck. And quite a number of heads were severed from the body. So, they are really fighters in my opinion.
“And the way – in two hours, three villages. It must be people who knew what to do and were trained in how to do it.”
“Soldiers are patrolling and everywhere remains calm…We are estimating 500 people killed but I think it should be a little bit above that,” Plateau State Commissioner for Information Gregory Yenlong said.
Police spokesman Mohammed Lerama said the number of dead officially recorded so far stood at 55.
“The attack was quite systematic and quite well organised.”
Rev Benjamin Kwashi, Archbishop of Jos
A Red Cross spokesman said the security situation was “still in disarray” and that while its teams had been able to help evacuate some people to hospital in Jos, they were still trying to reach all those areas affected.
Plateau state lies at the crossroads of Nigeria’s Muslim north and Christian south and fierce competition for control of fertile farmlands between indigenous groups and settlers from the north have repeatedly triggered unrest over the past decade.
Security forces were put on red alert late on Sunday to try to prevent reprisal attacks spreading into neighbouring states.
Soldiers have been on the streets of Jos policing a dusk-to-dawn curfew since four days of clashes between Christian and Muslim mobs in January, when community leaders put the death toll at more than 400.