DATE=2/23/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=NIGERIA / VIOLENCE (L-O)
NUMBER=2-259490
BYLINE=JOHN PITMAN
DATELINE=ABIDJAN
CONTENT=
CONTENT:
VOICED AT:
INTRO: After three-days of bloody rioting in the
northern Nigerian city of Kaduna, police say they have
regained control of the situation. But the death toll
from the violence appears to have soared to at least
100, with an equal number of wounded. Correspondent
John Pitman reports from our West Africa Bureau.
TEXT: Police put Kaduna under a total curfew as
skirmishes between rival gangs of Christians and
Muslims continued for a third day.
By the end of the day (Wednesday) police claimed to
have re-established control of the city, but
eyewitnesses say the Kaduna remains extremely tense.
At least 100-people are believed to have perished in
the fighting, many of them hacked to death or burned
in street battles between rival gangs. Additional
bodies are being collected in the city, many parts of
which were burned by looters.
Police and army reinforcements may also be responsible
for some of the deaths. Eyewitnesses have reported
security officers firing into crowds of rioters.
Police officials say they did what was necessary to
quell the violence, which began Monday during a march
by Christians opposed to the possible introduction of
Islamic Law, called Sharia, in Kaduna State.
In Nigeria's capital, the House of Representatives
condemned the violence as vicious and barbaric and
urged president Olusegun Obasanjo to deploy all
available security forces to stop the bloodshed, which
spread to three other towns.
Mr. Obasanjo has promised to do whatever is necessary
to end the killings, which he said have caused him
anguish.
In a related move, the House of Representatives also
ordered its judiciary committee to look into the
constitutionality of states declaring Islamic Law
within their borders.
Zamfara State has imposed the Islamic legal code,
which lays out strict moral rules against public
drinking, drug use, and prostitution, as well as bans
on certain public interactions between men and women.
Tuesday, three other states with Muslim majorities
announced that they too would implement Sharia law in
May.
Muslims in Kaduna State would also like to introduce
Sharia, and say it would only be applied to Muslims.
But Christians, who make up nearly half the state's
population, have opposed the move, fearing it would
violate their constitutional and civil rights.
While no action has been taken by Kaduna's state
government to implement or reject Sharia, this week's
violence led hundreds of Kaduna residents to vote on
the issue with their feet. As smoke continued to pall
over their city, long lines of civilians could be seen
fleeing on foot and in cars loaded high with personal
belongings. (SIGNED)
NEB/JP/ENE/RAE
23-Feb-2000 13:50 PM EDT (23-Feb-2000 1850 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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