Posted on 02/20/2006 7:55:00 PM PST by fight_truth_decay
Ten people died Monday and more than 40 injured in the northern Nigerian city of Bauchi following clashes between Muslims and Christians over the supposed desecration of the Koran, a Red Cross official said.
The official however pointed out that the violence was not linked to Saturday's riots in northern Nigeria over the publication of cartoons of Prophet Mohammed by a Danish newspaper which claimed at least 24 lives.
"The incident started at 10 am (0900 GMT) today at the Government Comprehensive High School," after a teacher allegedly confiscated a Muslim religious document a female student was reading in class," Red Cross disaster management official Adronicus Adeyemo told AFP, citing reports from the town.
"It later spread to the town. Ten people died, six of them burnt and more than 40 others were injured, some of them with machetes," he said.
Residents of Bauchi told AFP that the students beat up the teacher after assuming that she had confiscated the Koran.
The rumour spread like wildfire across the city, sparking the violence, they added.
Bauchi trader Sani Haris told AFP that the student's peers went on the rampage in the school, destroying property and prompting school authorities to call in the police who restored order after firing teargas.
Nigeria's 130-million-strong population is divided roughly equally between Muslims and Christians of a variety of sects and denominations but the north is overwhelmingly Muslim.
Since the return of civilian rule in Nigeria in 1999, several northern states have imposed the Muslim sharia law. Religious violence between Christians and Muslims surfaces from time to time in the region.
Cartoons of Prophet Mohamed: Should newspapers be allowed to print them?
Time of FR Posting:
Yes: Freedom of Press
41%
No: Gratuitous offence
52%
No opinion
7%
Nigeria's 130-million-strong population is divided roughly equally between Muslims and Christians of a variety of sects and denominations.
Northern Nigeria is overwhelmingly Muslim, but major cities have significant Christian minorities, mainly members of the Igbo ethnic group who operate successful small businesses, trading especially in car parts and alcohol.
Yes: Freedom of Press
45%
No: Gratuitous offence
48%
No opinion
7%
Nothing but mindless animals exhibiting the true nature of Islam (pig poop be upon it).
No, this is completely unrelated islamist violence.
Now it's 60% Yes! I'm a votin' fool!
75% yes!
""The incident started at 10 am (0900 GMT) today at the Government Comprehensive High School," after a teacher allegedly confiscated a Muslim religious document a female student was reading in class,""
Perfect. Muslim children can read the Koran in class. Otherwise, people will kill you. Islam is Communism on steriods.
Yes: Freedom of Press
76%
No: Gratuitous offence
21%
No opinion
3%
Anyone who answers "No" supports tyranny.
UPDATE
21/02/2006 11:50 KANO, Nigeria, Feb 21 (AFP)
Nigeria imposes curfew in restive north after clashes kill 34 people
Nigeria imposed a curfew and tightened security in two northern cities Tuesday after violence between Muslims and Christians claimed at least 34 lives.
A spokesman for the government of the state of Bauchi, where 10 people were killed on Monday after the supposed "desecration" of the Koran by a school teacher, said a dawn-to-dusk curfew had been imposed to pre-empt further clashes.
"The government of Bauchi has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the (capital) after yesterday's violence," government spokesman Mohammed Abdullahi told AFP.
"A joint police military patrol has been going on since yesterday and will continue until order is fully restored," he said.
According to the Nigerian Red Cross, 24 others died Saturday in the states of Borno and Katsina during heated protests against the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed which first appeared in a Danish newspaper.
Naomi Moses, spokeswoman for the state of Gombe which on Monday banned a planned protest against the cartoons which many Muslims deem offensive, said it had also imposed curfew.
http://www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?area=africa&item=060221115059.imhqi2ui.php
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These appear to be two separate incidents.
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