Print
Mar. 9th (BBC News) - The governor of Nigeria's Plateau state has accused military commanders of ignoring warnings of an attack on Sunday near the city of Jos.
Hundreds died during attacks on three villages in the area between the mainly Christian south and Muslim north.
The massacre is seen as revenge for a previous bout of killings in January.
Earlier, a Christian group also accused security forces of failing to stop the clashes. Nigerian police spokesman Yemi Ajayi categorically denied the claims.
The army has not yet responded to the accusations but troops are patrolling the area to prevent further clashes.
There were fresh reports of gunfire in villages near Jos late on Tuesday, and some villagers have been fleeing the area.
Governor Jonah Jang said he had warned the army about reports of suspicious people with weapons hours before they attacked, but they failed to take action.
"Three hours or so later, I was woken by call that they have started burning the village and people were been hacked to death," he said.
"I tried to locate the commanders. I couldn't get any of them on the telephone."
The head of the northern area of Nigeria's Christian Association said he believed mercenaries were involved.
Saidu Dogo told the BBC that fighters from neighbouring Chad and Niger took part in the violence.
"For quite some time we have alerted the government to training grounds in some part of the northern state where people are being trained to cause problems in the country... Nobody did anything about it," he said.
"Many people come into Nigeria under the pretext of [being] pastoralists, they are mercenaries. They follow pastoralist routes to gain entrance, carry out their activities and then leave," he said.
Earlier, the Plateau State Christian Elders Consultative Forum complained that it had taken the army two hours to react after receiving a distress call, the AFP news agency reported.
By that time, "the attackers had finished their job and left", they said.
The authorities believe the attack on the three villages near the Plateau state capital, Jos, was an act of revenge carried out by members of the mainly Muslim Fulani community.
The US and human rights campaign groups have urged the government to arrest and try those responsible.
"The Nigerian government should ensure that the perpetrators of acts of violence are brought to justice under the rule of law, and that human rights are respected as order is restored," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.
Read more...
