Troops and police guard Kano
2004-05-12 12:13
Kano, Nigeria - Large numbers of troops and police were deployed on the streets of the northern Nigerian city of Kano on Wednesday, maintaining an uneasy peace after a day of sectarian attacks.
Muslim youths, angered over an earlier massacre elsewhere in the country by a Christian militia, took to the streets after a protest rally on Tuesday, killing at least 10 members of Kano's Christian minority and burning property.
A strict curfew was imposed overnight and there was no immediate sign of renewed fighting as the city got back to work on Wednesday, although Christian traders in their minority ghetto, Sabon Gari, were cautious.
"This is the area which is normally targeted by hooligans when this kind of thing happens," said building merchant Emeka Ugoh, one of a group of nervous Christian businessmen gathered on France Road in Sabon Gari.
What might happen
"As you can see, all of us are just standing here next to our shops. It's too early for us to start business because we don't know what might happen."
Riots erupted in Kano following a rally organised by Islamic leaders to protest a May 2 attack by a Christian ethnic militia on the mainly Muslim market town of Yelwa, in central Nigeria, which left more than 300 dead.
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo has appealed for leaders on both sides of the religious divide to reign in their supporters' anger, but there were signs on Wednesday that tension was spreading through the Muslim north.
Mu'azu Ahardawu, a radio reporter in the northern city of Bauchi, told reporters that a security operation had been launched after leaflets were found calling on Muslims to avenge the Yelwa killings and on Christians to leave the region.