Nigeria: Curfew Imposed On Nigerian City Of Jos

A dusk to dawn curfew has been imposed on the city of Jos, in Nigeria's central Plateau state, and its surrounding area following hours of ethnic and religious tension.

Angry youths protested against an attack by suspected cattle herders, who are predominately Muslim, on Friday morning.

They destroyed properties belonging to Muslims, which sparked more tension and skirmishes between the two sides. Many shops remain closed.

Plateau state commissioner of information, Yakubu Datti, told the BBC the curfew was put in place to prevent a further escalation of violence

The skirmishes in Jos, the Plateau state capital, were in response to an attack on Thursday by suspected cattle herders on a predominantly Christian community on the outskirts of the city.

Gunmen killed at least four people and wounded around two people, a spokesman for the special military task force in the area, Umar Adamu, told the BBC.

The attack on Thursday is believed to be in retaliation to the killing of a herder the day before.

The area has a decades-long history of violence between settled farming communities and nomadic cattle herders competing for land.

These tit-for-tat clashes have erupted into inter-communal warfare, killing thousands in 2017.





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