Ethnic clashes flared for the third day in Nigeria’s southern oil town of Warri on Sunday, with rival gangs burning houses in a blaze that set the night sky glowing orange, residents said.
The clashes started on Friday over disputed state legislative primaries of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s People’s Democratic Party, ahead of national elections scheduled for April and May in Africa’s most populous nation.
Soldiers and police brought violence under control on Saturday, but it erupted again on Sunday, with new intensity.
Young men of the rival Urhobo and Itshekiri tribes battled, attacking members of the rival ethnic group and setting houses on fire, residents said.
”As I’m talking to you, several houses are burning and we’re hearing gunshots, some from soldiers and some from the youths,” resident Chidi Eze told The Associated Press by telephone.
Residents said up to 12 people died in Friday’s and Saturday’s fighting. They feared the toll would go higher Sunday. Police officials could not be reached for comment on the new fighting.
Violence between the two ethnic groups in 1998 and 1999 killed hundreds in the town.
Warri serves as a base for leading oil multinationals, including ChevronTexaco, operating in Nigeria’s troubled Niger Delta oil region.
Fears of ethnic and political violence are rife ahead of the general elections. Ethnic, political and religious clashes have killed more than 10 000 people in Nigerians in the last three years. – Sapa-AP