Authorities slapped a 24-hour curfew on the Nigerian flashpoint city of Jos on Tuesday after deadly clashes between Christians and Muslims, a state spokesperson told Agence France-Presse.
“The government has placed a 24-hour curfew on Jos and Bukuru [a small town on the fringes of Jos] following the resumption of violence in parts of the city,” Plateau State Information Commissioner Gregory Yenlong said.
Weekend clashes in the city left at least 26 people dead, hundreds wounded and thousands homeless.
“All residents are hereby directed to stay indoors as security agents work towards restoring peace,” said Yenlong as residents heard gunshots and saw smoke billowing from parts of the city.
The curfew announcement was relayed repeatedly over the radio.
“From here I can hear gunshots and see burning buildings from a neighbourhood in the northern part of the city,” Ibrahim Mudi, a resident of Sabon Fegi suburb, said.
“It seems that Jos north is completely on fire,” added Mudi, who spoke on the phone from his veranda.
Fighting erupted on Sunday when Christian youths protested the building of a mosque in a Christian-majority area of Nigeria’s 10th-largest city, which has a population of 500 000. Houses and vehicles were set ablaze.
The Red Cross said more than 100 people were seriously injured in the fighting and 3 000 had been displaced.
On Monday, troops and police were deployed on the streets and then enforced a 12-hour dusk-to-dawn curfew in the central city, where hundreds of people were killed in religious clashes last year.
Yenlong vowed the state government “will do all it takes to ensure the return of normalcy to the city”. — AFP