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Nigeria: 500 Christians Butchered in Jos

In Jos, Nigeria, a massacre took place during the night of March 7, 2010 with 500 Christians murdered in the night by a gang with machetes – killing women and children.  A summary from London Times Africa reporter and other media reports are listed below.

The London Times reports “500 butchered in Nigeria killing fields”:
— London Times summary: “Officials estimate that 500 people were massacred in night-time raids by rampaging Muslim gangs near the city of Jos.  Survivors told The Times that entire families were killed, some to the chants of Allahu Akbar – God is Greatest”
— London Times report:
— “Dozens of bodies lined the dusty streets of three Christian villages in northern Nigeria yesterday. Other victims of Sunday morning’s Muslim rampage were jammed into a local morgue, the limbs of slaughtered children tangled in a grotesque mess.”
— “One toddler appeared fixed in the protective but hopeless embrace of an older child, possibly his brother. Another had been scalped. Most had severed hands and feet.”
— “Officials estimate that 500 people were massacred in night-time raids by Muslim gangs near Jos, the city that bestrides Nigeria’s Christian-Muslim fault line.”
— “Local journalists and civil rights organisations who toured the area yesterday told The Times they had counted at least 200 victims shot and hacked to death in apparent revenge for sectarian violence in January that claimed about 300 lives from the two communities. Mark Lipdo, a co-ordinator for the Stefanos Foundation, a Christian aid group, confirmed at least 93 dead in one village. ‘But there are corpses charred beyond recognition,’ he said.”
— “Survivors claimed that Muslim inhabitants of the targeted villages of Zot, Dogo Nahawa and Rastat had received telephone calls two days before the attack telling them to leave the area.”
— “Witnesses said gangs waited at main entry points to the villages while others went from house to house, setting the homes on fire.”
— “Those who fled were killed at the exit points. Others were slaughtered after being caught in animal traps and nets as they ran in the dark.”
— “Ben Kwashi, Anglican Archbishop of Jos, said he visited one of three villages engulfed by the violence. ‘I could see kids from age zero to teenagers, all butchered from the back, macheted in their necks, their heads. Deep cuts in the mouths of babies. The stench. People wailing and crying,’ he said.”
— “Nigeria’s Acting President Goodluck Jonathan, a southerner, ordered troops into the riot-affected area ‘to confront and defeat these roving bands of killers’, he said in a statement. Last night he sacked Sarki Mukhtar, the national security adviser, a powerful figure in the inner circle of the ailing President, Umaru Yar’Adua.”
— “Villagers said army assistance came too late. Christian youths accused the military of complicity in the killings.”

Aftermath of March 7, 2010 Jos Attack (Photo: Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)

Aftermath of March 7, 2010 Jos Attack (Photo: Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)

Aftermath of March 7, 2010 Jos Attack (Photo: Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)

Aftermath of March 7, 2010 Jos Attack (Photo: Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)

Image of March 7, 2010 Attack Aftermath as Bodies were Gathered (Photo: Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)

Image of March 7, 2010 Attack Aftermath as Bodies were Gathered (Photo: Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)

Additional Reports:

Nigeria: ICC – “500 Christians Slain in Muslim Violent Extemism Attack in Nigeria” – “most of the victims are women and children”

BBC: Nigerian army ‘ignored warning of massacres’ in Jos

Voice of America: Nigeria: US Calls for Justice in Nigeria Massacre

London Times: “Nigerian Christian villagers flee threats of fresh attacks by Muslims”
The London Times reports:
— “Frightened Christians streamed out of villages in central Nigeria yesterday after threats of new attacks from Muslims responsible for a weekend massacre in which at least 500 people were killed.”
— “Under the gaze of troops rushed into the area, burials for the victims of the violence — believed to be in revenge for Christian killings of Muslims in late January — took place near the city of Jos, the provincial capital of Plateau State. Thousands have been killed in similar religious clashes in recent years.”

London Times: "Witnesses said that gangs waited at main entry points to the villages while others went from house to house, setting the homes on fire" (Photo: London Times)

London Times: "Witnesses said that gangs waited at main entry points to the villages while others went from house to house, setting the homes on fire" (Photo: London Times)

LA Times: Nigerian massacre victims buried in mass grave
The LA Times reports:
— “Reporting from Ratsat, Dogo Nahawa, Nigeria, and Lagos, Nigeria — The victims of Sunday’s sectarian massacres were buried in mass graves in central Nigeria on Monday as survivors told horrific stories of Christian villagers being trapped in nets and hacked to death by Muslim herdsmen.”
— “Reports on the death toll differed wildly, with some placing it at about 200 and others reporting 528 killed and thousands injured. Casualty figures in the recurrent Muslim-Christian violence in Nigeria’s volatile Plateau state are often difficult to ascertain, as each side inflates its losses.”
— “However, attacks in January and on Sunday have left at least 500 dead, making it the worst violence here for some years.”

Mass Grave in Jos After Attack (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Mass Grave in Jos After Attack (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Reuters: Retaliation fears stalk Nigeria city after clashes

AKI:  Nigeria: Pope deplores Christian killings

Updates:

Nigeria charges 49 after village massacres

Nigerian Women Protest Sectarian Massacre

Nigerian Christians Cry Out for Help Amid Attacks

Reports on January 2010 Violence

Nigeria: Religious Hate Explodes, Shaming Both Christians and Muslims

Nigeria: Continuing Violence, Killing of Christians and Muslims in Jos Riots