JOS, Nigeria (Reuters) - The Nigerian military fired in the air to contain violence in the central city of Jos Saturday, after the killing of a Muslim man triggered a rampage by an angry mob, an army spokesman and witnesses said.

Four others died in the unrest, underscoring continued tensions in the region at the crossroads between Nigeria's Muslim north and Christian south. Sectarian clashes have killed hundreds of people this year.

A mob began rioting after the body of a Muslim man, who had apparently been strangled, was dumped in a sack on a main street, according to the military taskforce (STF) set up to police Jos and the surrounding area after clashes in January.

"When the Muslims discovered the body, they took to the streets and barricaded roads, stabbing passers-by indiscriminately," STF spokesman Donald Oji said, adding that three of those attacked had later died in hospital.

A fifth body was later discovered by soldiers on the other side of the city, he said.

Fierce competition for control of fertile farmlands between Christian and animist indigenous groups and Muslim settlers from the north have repeatedly sparked violence in central Nigeria's "Middle Belt" over the past decade.

Security forces say they have the situation under control, maintaining a night curfew in Jos. But killings have continued, raising fears of a repeat of clashes between Muslim and Christian mobs which killed hundreds in January and March.

Sporadic violence killed at last nine people last week, seven of them discovered in shallow graves around 30 km south of Jos. Residents said they were killed after stopping at a roadblock set up by a local gang.
(Writing by Nick Tattersall, editing by Mark Trevelyan)


http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/mp/7106017/dumped-body-sparks-riot-in-central-nigeria-5-dead/

Where there are Jihadists there is no peace !

Lord i wish my people were able to achieve biafra so we won't be bothered with these bloodthirsty freaks.

whether we like it or not, we brought this on ourselves. ignoring a problem will not make it go away, and throwing parties will not hide the disunity in your house.

These episodes of violence have been on since 1985 and we did not do anything about it, (maybe it will go away) each regime simply overlooked it or sent in the army to keep everyone down.

Now it is time to feel the pain, when a head-ache makes a man faint, it is too late to take Panadol

Right now, I am just numb to the violence. Let them kill each other. As long as it does not spread throughout the south.

I am well aware that the majority of people in the North want peace and harmony.
I lived in Kano and Bauchi states for almost a decade, so I should know better.

The crux of the matter is that there are Jihadists or rather militant elements that are hell bent on achieving a goal even if it means dragging the majority in with them.

Look across the world today and historically , all the ‘isms’ have been controlled and propagated by a very few minority, but the aftermath has been total chaos and savagery for the majority.

Northerners need to wake up and expel these elements in their midst otherwise they threaten the security and stability of the country. And yes I mean both Muslims and Christians.

A Christian who kills other people in my myopic opinion has forfeited his right to claim the name 'Christian'.

That country's leadership is so useless

Jos, Nigeria - The Nigerian military fired in the air to contain violence in the central city of Jos on Saturday, after the killing of a Muslim man triggered a rampage by an angry mob, an army spokesman and witnesses said.

Four others died in the unrest, underscoring continued tensions in the region at the crossroads between Nigeria's Muslim north and Christian south. Sectarian clashes have killed hundreds of people this year.

A mob began rioting after the body of a Muslim man, who had apparently been strangled, was dumped in a sack on a main street, according to the military taskforce (STF) set up to police Jos and the surrounding area after clashes in January.

"When the Muslims discovered the body, they took to the streets and barricaded roads, stabbing passers-by indiscriminately," STF spokesman Donald Oji said, adding that three of those attacked had later died in hospital.

A fifth body was later discovered by soldiers on the other side of the city, he said.

Fierce competition for control of fertile farmlands between Christian and animist indigenous groups and Muslim settlers from the north have repeatedly sparked violence in central Nigeria's "Middle Belt" over the past decade.

Security forces say they have the situation under control, maintaining a night curfew in Jos. But killings have continued, raising fears of a repeat of clashes between Muslim and Christian mobs which killed hundreds in January and March.

Sporadic violence killed at last nine people last week, seven of them discovered in shallow graves around 30 km south of Jos. Residents said they were killed after stopping at a roadblock set up by a local gang.

Naw these killings have been going on since 1950s not 1985 unless u are only remembering the 80s coz its between middlebelt and north.

EzeUche:

Right now, I am just numb to the violence. Let them kill each other. As long as it does not spread throughout the south.

you wish. if it is not checked now, give it 2 yrs and you will see Aba and Onitsha up in flames . . . . . . and perhaps sagamu or abeokuta

pres-elect:

you wish. if it is not checked now, give it 2 yrs and you will see Aba and Onitsha up in flames . . . . . . and perhaps sagamu or abeokuta

A Hausa would think twice about doing this in Alaigbo. You do not go to the Igbo heartland and do this. Maybe in Yorubaland in which it is common to fine a Hausa, but not in Igboland. God forbid.

pres-elect:

you wish. if it is not checked now, give it 2 yrs and you will see Aba and Onitsha up in flames . . . . . . and perhaps sagamu or abeokuta

Why 2 yrs . . . .? Hausas have been in the South for over 80 years . . .

hausas in the south actually have a life to live and work for money - the last thing on their minds is religous wars.
these wars only happen in the north frequently because of idle minds, illiteracy, joblessness.

With education and Jobs they will be no different than igbo or yoruba.

EzeUche:

Right now, I am just numb to the violence. Let them kill each other. As long as it does not spread throughout the south.

Yeah right you should be numb. You have fed so much on the violence that its nothing new to you, it will be nothing new to you when you pick up a cutlass or a gun and kill another man because you are already numb to it. Welcome to the new World. You've just been MK'ed.