Fresh violence in Plateau claims more lives

At least 12 people have been killed in a fresh outbreak of ethnic and religious violence in Plateau State, central Nigeria, sources from the area said.

The latest round of clashes erupted on Wednesday in the town of Wase between Taroks, who are indigenous to the area, and Hausa-Fulani settlers, who originally came from farther north. "No fewer than 12 people have been killed and several houses have been destroyed," John Ibe, an area resident who escaped to the Plateau State capital, Jos, told IRIN.

State-owned Radio Nigeria in the northern town of Kaduna confirmed the clashes on Friday and quoted Plateau State Commissioner of Police Innocent Ilozuoke as saying 74 people had been arrested in connection with the violence. However, no casualty figures were given.

There have been intermittent clashes between Hausa-Fulanis, who are overwhelmingly Muslim, and mainly Christian indigenous people in Plateau State since September 2001, when at least 1,000 people were killed in a week of fighting in Jos between the two communities.

Indigenous people blame some of the attacks on Fulani herdsmen who, they say, have been seeking to avenge the death of one of their chiefs in the September Jos conflict. The herdsmen in turn accuse the indigenes of giving them ultimatums to leave land which, for decades, had been their traditional grazing areas.

In May more than 10 people died in similar fighting in Plateau State's Bassa, Riyom and Bukuru local councils. Last month about 20 people died when a dispute over a love affair between a Muslim and Christian sparked another round of fighting in the Yelwa district. The violence later spread to Wase and two other districts, Langtang and Shendam.