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Several hundreds of people were feared killed Thursday in a renewed Muslims-Christians violence that swept parts of Kano, some 300 km northeast of Abuja, Nigeria's capital city, said a government official on condition of anonymity.
Although unconfirmed reports put the casualty figure at "well over 400," police authorities, who confirmed some 30 people were killed on Wednesday, insisted that such figure was a gross exaggeration.
A dusk-to-dawn curfew had been imposed on the city and soldiers had been invited to help beef up security since Tuesday when angry Muslims attacked Christians shortly after their rally against a massacre on May 2 in Yelwa town, central Nigeria, in which Christian militants killed at least 200 Muslims.
However, authoritative sources on condition of anonymity said that "hoodlums" had defied the curfew and again went on rampage at about 1 am on Thursday, killed "several hundreds of people."
Three areas of the city -- Sharada, Zoo Road and Kawu -- were worse affected as the "hoodlums" went from house to house apparently in search of would-be victims.
Also, a branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria was burnt during the early hours of Thursday, but the bank later said it was caused by "electrical fault."
Thousands of Christians fled their homes and all primary and post-primary schools in the state capital and its suburbs have been closed.
Meanwhile, police commands across Nigeria have been ordered to beef up security in a bid to avoid further riots escalation.
On Thursday, President Olusegun Obasanjo visited Yelwa town and urged both Islam and Christianity to preach peace and "sharing and caring for others."
In a speech in Jos, capital of Plateau state, where the town is located, Obasanjo said he was there as part of efforts to find "a just and equitable resolution" to end the incessant sectarian violence.
"I came here to see things for myself and to find a permanent solution to this recurring crisis. I want nothing other than the unity and oneness of this country," the president said.
Later, he visited displaced persons from the Yelwa crisis taking refuge at the Women Development Center in neighboring Bauchi State and assured that the government would do everything possible to facilitate their early return to their homes.
However, the 30,000-strong victims rejected his plea. They shouted at him "Banaso" in Huasa, meaning "We don't want to go back."
The aggrieved persons displaced by the Yelwa massacre also laid an ambush on Plateau State Governor Joshua Dariye when he accompanied Obasanjo on the tour, smashing his official car with missiles. Dariye escaped unhurt.
The Yelwa massacre was the latest outbreak of a conflict dating back to 2001 when more than 1,000 were killed in fighting between adherents of both religions in the state capital Jos.
Relations between Muslims and Christians, which make up about half each of the population of 130 million, have been tense since the introduction of Islamic Sharia law in northern states.
Since Obasanjo took power in 1999, ending 15 years of military rule, more than 10,000 people have been killed in ethnic, religious and political clashes in the world's seventh largest oil exporter.
(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2004)
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