Nigerian city hit by cycle of ethnic killings

Arrests, mourning and recrim­inations followed a cycle of ethnic violence in the central Nigerian city of Jos on Monday.

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Estimates for the number of people killed by mobs wielding machetes in the early hours of Sunday morning ranged from 55 to 500. Witnesses and activists said the true toll was probably closer to 200, warning that such figures were frequently manipulated.

The attacks, which were apparently reprisals following clashes in January, came amid a power struggle between supporters of Goodluck Jonathan, the acting president, and allies of Umaru Yar'Adua, the president, who has been laid low by illness since November.

Mr Jonathan ordered sec­urity forces to hunt down the "marauding bands" he blamed for the slaughter.

On Monday night Mr Jonathan fired Abdullahi Sarki Mukhtar, the national security adviser, without explanation. It was unclear whether the decision was linked to the security forces' failure to prevent the renewed violence in Jos but it removes a key member of Mr Yar'Adua's inner circle - a group described by one outspoken minister as a "cabal" bent on retaining power despite Mr Yar'Adua's incapacity.

The new national security adviser, Mohammed Aliyu Gusau, is a former general and spymaster thought to harbour presidential ambitions of his own. He held the position under Olusegun Obasanjo, the previous president who anointed Mr Yar'Adua as his successor but subsequently broke with him and who is regarded as Mr Jonathan's most heavyweight backer.

"The military and police are on top of the situation," Mohammed Lerema, police spokesman in Plateau state, of which Jos is the capital, told the Financial Times. He said there had been 93 arrests. The lack of convictions after previous killings has led to claims that perpetrators enjoy impunity.

"This kind of terrible violence has left thousands dead in Plateau State in the past decade, but no one has been held accountable," said Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "It's time to draw a line in the sand. The authorities need to protect these communities, bring the perpetrators to book, and address the root causes of violence."

Many activists see the violence in Plateau state, which has claimed 2,000 lives since 2001, as an indictment of Nigeria's political system. Ethnic loyalties are seen as the key to securing public office.

"People . . . have their leaders imposed," said Steve Aluko Daniel, regional head of the Civil Liberties Organisation. "All levels of government are to blame for the violence."

The Berom people, mainly Christian farmers, comprise the majority in Plateau and dominate the local government. They are designated as "indigenous" inhabitants under a classification system criticised as divisive.

Berom hardliners demand the expulsion of "outsiders" from the Hausa and Fulani tribes, the largest ethnic groups from Nigeria's largely Muslim north.

Hausas were the main targets of January's violence, when at least 320 died. Sunday's attacks on Berom villages were reportedly carried out by Fulani herdsmen avenging their dead.

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