Sectarian warfare worsening in Nigeria

By Glenn McKenzie, Associated Press, 9/13/2001

ABUJA, Nigeria - Muslims and Christians fought hand-to-hand yesterday in a market in Nigeria's northern city of Jos, witnesses said, scattering hungry customers at food stalls set up for the first time since a deadly rampage broke out five days ago.

Police fired tear gas and live ammunition to quell yesterday's fighting at the main market, which persisted for 11/2 hours. The extent of any new casualties was not known.

The Nigerian Red Cross estimates that fighting from Friday to Sunday claimed 165 lives in the city of several million, 225 miles north of Nigeria's capital, Abuja.

Residents say the toll is probably much higher. The violence has left tens of thousands of homes, churches, mosques, and shops in smoking ruins.

Nigerian police, fearing a high death toll would raise tensions, have played down the bloodletting and confirmed only 51 deaths.

Jos resident Susan Akele said in a telephone interview that commuters were turned back from the city center yesterday by road blocks, some of which were set up by police while others were set up by armed gangs.

Nigeria, which is Africa's most populous nation, is split into an overwhelmingly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south, with tension between the two communities increasing.

Missionary Craig Ewoldt of Saline, Mich., who works for a US-based Bible distribution network, said the latest shooting could be heard for miles around.

''The area around the market was calm in the morning, but someone we know called us later to say they were trapped and couldn't go out because people were fighting again,'' Ewoldt said by telephone.

Many people were running out of food. Ewoldt said he and other missionaries had been buying and distributing food to some impoverished residents until shortly before the latest violence began.

It was unclear whether news of Tuesday's attacks in Washington and New York had influenced the resurgence in violence.

Some Christian residents said armed Muslim men in one neighborhood had been celebrating the assault on the United States by gathering in the streets and shouting: ''Allah be praised; down with Christians!'' The claim could not be independently confirmed.

President Olusegun Obasanjo condemned the US attacks in a state TV address yesterday to the nation of 120 million.

This story ran on page A22 of the Boston Globe on 9/13/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.