At least three people were killed and several others injured in clashes between Christians and Muslims in the Nasarawa Gwom area of Jos on Monday evening, a military spokesman said yesterday.

A rally by Christians celebrating the Easter briefly turned violent when members of the group fought with a Muslim mob. Police said the situation was now under control and no further violence was reported yesterday.

In a statement, spokesman for the special task force Brigadier General Donald Oji said, “Three persons lost their lives and some were injured. The injured were attended to by medical personnel of the STF while the bodies of the dead were removed by members of the STF and deposited appropriately for further action.”

He added: “What could have passed as a peaceful inter-denominational Easter prayer at Rwang Pam Stadium was hijacked by hoodlums who took to the streets thereby causing serious breach of peace. The prayer was duly signed and approved by the STF on the condition that there would be no procession and that it would be confined to the stadium. This condition was duly attested to by the organisers of the programme.

“However, the hoodlums took advantage of the large number of participants, who had concluded their programme and were dispersing to cause a breach of peace. Insinuation and rumours that that these three were killed by STF is not correct. The STF only carried out its duties of dispersing the crowd.”

But the Plateau State Police Command said only one person died in the incident and has since started an investigation into the death of the victim, who was identified as Mr Osita Ikechukwu.