Unprecedented destruction in Kaduna

There has been an unprecedented destruction of lives and property in Kaduna following two days of violent clashes between Muslims and Christians, Fabian Okoye, the director of research and publications of Human Rights Monitor in Kaduna, told IRIN on Wednesday.

The violence has left scores dead or wounded. The unrest began on Monday following a march organised by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to protest against the proposed introduction of Islamic law in the state of Kaduna.

"We are making efforts to ascertain how many people are dead, wounded, and are homeless," 'The Guardian' reported Young Arebamen, deputy police commissioner and spokesman at the Force Headquarters in Abuja as saying. News reports put the death toll as high as 50 while Human Rights Monitor said that over 100 people could have been killed.

"Last night was very bloody" Okoye said. "This morning I travelled to the Kawo area of Kaduna and counted six bodies littering the streets." Soldiers are mounting road blocks in areas which are still tense and not allowing traffic or people to pass, he added. Soldiers have been deployed by the federal government as strategic back-up to the police in Kaduna
which received reinforcements of regular and anti-riot police from the northern states, 'The Guardian' reported the State Commissioner of Police as saying on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the police have warned that anyone taking part in illegal demonstrations will be "severely dealt with according to the law," Radio Nigeria-Kaduna reported on Tuesday. Kaduna's acting state governor Stephen Shekari has warned that violators of the noon to dawn curfew will be "shot on sight," the BBC reported on Tuesday. Before the onset of the curfew on Wednesday people were on the streets trying to move into safe
areas from where they had been stranded overnight, Okoye said.

Shekari told the BBC on Tuesday that the situation was being brought under control and a BBC correspondent in the city said that only sporadic shooting could be be heard in the city centre and the situation was calmer than the previous evening. However, according to Okoye, "people remain very apprehensive" and fear reprisals from irate groups once the extent of the damage done to property has been assessed.