Clashes between Muslim and Christian gangs subsided today in the Nigerian city of Jos, where rights activists said the death toll has topped 200, but sporadic gunfire could be heard in neighbouring communities.
Hundreds of soldiers and police were stationed throughout Plateau state's capital city in central Nigeria to enforce a 24-hour curfew, which has left many streets deserted and businesses closed.
US-based Human Rights Watch said 151 bodies had been taken to the city's mosque for burial since the violence started on Sunday, while the number of Christian dead was put at 65.
"The fighting has stopped in Jos, but we can hear gunshots in other communities in the outskirts of the city. We are expecting more corpses to be brought in from surrounding communities later today," said Muhammad Tanko Shittu, a senior mosque official organising mass burials, who estimated the death toll among Muslims at 155.
The official police figures were significantly lower with 20 people dead, 40 injured and 168 arrested since Sunday.
Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, in his first use of executive power, ordered troops to Jos yesterday to restore calm and prevent a repetition of clashes in November 2008, when hundreds of residents were killed in the country's worst sectarian fighting in years.
It was not clear whether President Umaru Yar'Adua, who has been in hospital in Saudi Arabia for nearly two months, had been briefed on the situation.
This week's violence erupted after an argument between Muslim and Christian neighbours over the rebuilding of homes destroyed in the 2008 clashes.
The fighting is unlikely to have a big impact on sub-Saharan Africa's second biggest economy. Its oil industry is in the south and its banking sector mainly in the commercial capital Lagos.
Reuters
