Nigeria: 15 killed over cartoon

2006-02-19 09:40

Njadvara Musa

Maiduguri, Nigeria - Thousands of Nigerian Muslims protesting caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad attacked Christians and burned churches in northeastern Nigeria, killing at least 15 people Saturday, police and residents said.

It was the first major protest to erupt over the issue in Africa's most populous nation.

Rioters burned 15 Christian churches in Maiduguri in a three-hour midday rampage before troops and police reinforcements restored order, Nigerian police spokesman Haz Iwendi said.

Security forces arrested dozens of people suspected of taking part in the violence, Iwendi said.

An Associated Press reporter on the scene saw mobs of Muslim protesters swarm through the city center with machetes, sticks and iron rods. One group threw a tire around one man, poured petrol on him and set him ablaze.

Chima Ezeoke, a Christian Maiduguri resident, said the protesters attacked and looted shops owned by minority Christians, most of them with origins in the country's south.

"Most of the dead were Christians beaten to death on the streets by the rioters," Ezeoke said.

Witnesses said three children and a Catholic priest were among those killed.

- AP