Churches vandalised in religious riot

One person was killed and eight churches vandalised during a religious riot by hundreds of people in the southwest Nigerian city of Osogbo, Osun state, news organisations reported on Friday. The rioters were reportedly protesting against a planned five-day crusade by German evangelist Reinhardt Bonnke, scheduled for next week. Two vehicles belonging to the chaplain of one of the churches were also damaged. This Day newspaper quoted Osun Police Commissioner Ganiyu Dawodu as saying investigations were going on, but that a leader of the rioters had been arrested. The chairman of Nigeria's League of Imams and Alfas, Mustapha Ajisafe, and the chairman of the Osun chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Leke Abegunrin, condemned the incident, describing it as unfortunate, the paper reported. State Governor Bisi Akande toured the affected areas on Thursday and described the damage as "very enormous and uncalled for", PANA reported on Friday. AFP described those who ransacked the churches as "angry Muslim youths". Hundreds died 10 years ago when Bonnke staged a crusade in the Muslim-dominated northern city of Kano.