| In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI reacts after praying in front of a statue of Pope Pius XII, Eugenio Pacelli, during his pastoral visit at San Lorenzo Basilica, in Rome, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2008. The pontiff later condemned as "cruel and senseless" the terrorist attacks in India and the sectarian fighting in Nigeria that have killed hundreds this week. |
Riot in Nigeria's central Plateau State's capital Jos has been put under control as everything is back in order, state police said in Jos on Sunday.
"Everything is back in order, Jos is now under control," Bala Kassim, Plateau State police spokesperson said.
But he said no official figure for casualties are available so far because time is needed to collect reports from different parts of the city.
"Normalcy is back in Jos, while security is still very tight, police and military operatives are everywhere on the street, checking vehicles and querying people," said Kosoko, a resident in Jos.
He said businesses have re-opened and people started to go back home.
The riot was trigged by disputes on Jos North local government election held on Nov. 27.
The opposition All Nigerian People's Party, whose members are mostly Muslims, accused the ruling People's Democratic Party of fraud in the election.
Face-off of supporters of rival sides then developed into clashes throughout Jos on Friday. Mobs burned houses, looted shops and destroyed mosques and churches.
The violence has left thousands homeless, said local media, quoting Red Cross sources.
The authorities imposed a night-time curfew in Jos as from Friday.
Security forces were given a shoot-on-sight order Saturday following the escalation of the riot.
It is not the first time that such kind of violence happens in Jos and Plateau State as a whole.
According to local media reports, hundreds were killed in ethnic-religious street fighting in Jos in 2001, while in 2004, hundreds more died in clashes in the town of Yelwa in Plateau State.
A senior journalist with the official News Agency of Nigeria who asked for anonymity said the political disputes was purely an "excuse" for the clashes, religious reasons could be real cause ofthe accident.
"Why it will not take place in southwestern zone or in the north? Because the central Plateau State plays fronter between northern Muslim population and southern Christian majority," he said.
"The population and influence of two major religious groups in the state is half to half, a kind of deadlock as they face each other in daily life, which can easily accumulate conflicts ," he said.
He noted that the Plateau State has long been one of Nigeria's most popular tourism destinations.
"Jos is a beautiful place, but the accident in Jos will apparently hurt tourism industry in the state," he added.
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