Nigeria concern over massacre
2004-05-10 17:44
Lagos - The Nigerian government said on Monday that it was concerned over the fate of thousands of people "forcefully" displaced after a Christian militia attacked Muslims in the central town of Yelwa, killing up to 300 people.
"The federal government considers the issue of persons who have been forcefully uprooted or restrained from peacefully existing in their chosen communities as a matter of great concern," an official statement said.
A presidential committee has been set up to seek information on those displaced, the statement said.
The Presidential Committee on Internally Displaced Persons will make recommendations aimed at preventing the frequent occurrence of events that can lead to displacement, and draft a national policy on the problem, said the statement.
The committee invited government agencies, civic groups, humanitarian and international organisations and the general public to submit information on displaced persons to it, in writing, by May 28.
The chairperson of the committee is the minister of special duties, Frank Nweke.
The attack on Yelwa, a market town in a disputed area of Plateau State, 300km east of the federal capital of Abuja, has raised fears that further sectarian or ethnic attacks might follow in Africa's most populous nation.
The Red Cross said at the weekend that it was setting up camps in nearby states to receive those displaced by the Yelwa attack.
More than 10 000 people have died in various ethnic and religious clashes across the country since it returned to democratic rule in May 1999.