Many arrested in connection with Kaduna clashes

Several people have been arrested in Nigeria following last weekend's clashes in the northern state of Kaduna in which at least 10 people died, news reports said. Nigerian state radio reported on Monday that police in Kaduna had arrested 18 suspects in connection with the disturbances. BBC reported that the detainees included a local chief and the chairman of a local government council. The announcement on Friday of a new legal system under which Sharia - Islamic law - would coexist with canon law in Kaduna had sparked demonstrations by both Muslims and Christians which later degenerated into violence. Under the new system, introduced by Governor Ahmed Makarfi and seen by observers as a compromise, predominantly Muslim communities in the state will apply Sharia, while mainly Christian communities will apply canon or customary law. A judicial panel has been set up to investigate the causes of violence. The announcement of plans to introduce Sharia in Kaduna had led to Muslim-Christian clashes in February last year in which more than 2,000 people died. Over the past two years at least a dozen states in Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north have adopted Islamic law, sparking religious clashes in a number of northern towns, and reprisals in the mainly Christian south.