Hundreds arrested over Jos violence

Nigerian police have arrested some 300 people in connection with violent religious clashes in the central city of Jos some 10 days ago, AFP reported state television as saying on Sunday.

It was not clear if anyone had been charged or whether anyone had been released after questioning and police were not available for comment, the French news agency reported. Violence erupted between Muslim Hausa-Fulanis and Christian indigenes on 7 September leaving at least 300 people dead, thousands displaced and buildings, including churches and mosques, destroyed.

President Olusegun Obasanjo visited Jos at the weekend and described what happened there as acts of extreme barbarity, savagery and cruelty, 'The Guardian' newspaper reported on Monday. He blamed the unrest on the failure of religious, political and community leaders to perform their roles effectively, the Lagos-based daily reported.

Tension had been high in the city for several weeks after the federal government appointed a Muslim to head the National Poverty Eradication Programme in Plateau State state, of which Jos is the capital. The state's Christian majority has long haboured resentment towards Hausa-Fulani settlers whom they accuse of claiming ownership of the land on which they have settled.