Some 12 000 people have fled fighting in the southern Nigerian oil city of Warri, the Nigerian Red Cross said on Thursday as it launched a relief operation.
At least 18 people have been killed in three days of riots between armed political gangs in the Effurun district of the Niger Delta city, according to witnesses. Press reports speak of up to 25 casualties.
”As of last night, around 12 000 people have been displaced,” Red Cross president Emmanuel Ijewere said.
”These are people either made homeless because their houses have been burnt or were forced to flee the conflict area,” he said.
He added that shooting was still going on on Wednesday night and volunteers have been advised to stay out of the conflict zone.
”It is not even easy to give a death toll because our men could not get to hospitals and mortuaries. We want to give a verifiable figure. Not to under-estimate or over-exaggerate,” Ijewere said.
”We have arranged some materials for the victims. We are trying to use school buildings in surrounding towns to assist.”
He appealed to security forces to intensify efforts to quell the violence that has left scores of buildings razed and vehicles destroyed.
Army spokesperson Colonel Emeka Onwuamaegbu said that soldiers have moved in to quell the disturbances.
”Our men are patrolling the area to ensure there is no more fighting,” he said.
”They go in and out. We are not going to be there permanently, our intervention is to restore peace.”
Trouble started on Monday between members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)and the opposition party Alliance for Democracy.
The fighting comes barely two weeks after the end of general elections in Nigeria in which President Olusegun Obasanjo’s PDP won a disputed victory.
The election has been slammed by both Nigerian and international monitors, who say it was marred by ballot-rigging. – Sapa-AFP