Riots force Miss World out of Nigeria, death toll reaches 200
Riots force Miss World out of Nigeria, death toll reaches 200
Agencies, Kaduna, Nigeria/London
Riots triggered by Muslim opposition to the Miss World beauty pageant forced the event out of Nigeria on Sunday, as a civil rights group said the death toll from the violence had risen to more than 200.
More than 200 people have died, 1,125 have been injured and 11,000 driven from their homes in ongoing sectarian violence in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna, the president of the Nigerian Red Cross told AFP on Sunday.
Emmanuel Ijewere said most of the dead had been killed in attacks and revenge attacks by rival Christian and Muslim gangs and that, contrary to reports, fighting had continued overnight in the flashpoint city.
"There has not been calm overnight, there have been more killings," he said by telephone. "More people are coming in for treatment, this has continued and we're expecting more trouble today."
Fighting was sparked in Kaduna last Wednesday by Muslim youths who burned a newspaper office in protest against an article on the Miss World beauty pageant that they regarded as insulting to the Prophet Mohammad.
On Thursday the trouble degenerated into vicious bloodletting between the flashpoint city's Christian and Muslim populations, accompanied by bloody clashes between demonstrators and security forces.
"The 11,000 people driven from their homes are from both sides, either people whose homes have been burned or who are living in the war zones. Most have had their homes burnt," he said.
Ijewere's estimated death toll of more than 200, which he said was collated at 7pm (1800 GMT) Saturday, tallies with a total given AFP Saturday by the Kaduna-based rights group, the Civil Rights Congress (CRC).
Some 90 Miss World contestants flew out of the Nigerian capital Abuja bound for London, a witness said, after officials said the event had been moved because of the bad publicity surrounding an outbreak of anti-Miss World protests.
The privately chartered planed left Abuja at around 3:30 a.m. (9:30 a.m. Jakarta time). It headed for the British capital, which will now host the beauty pageant's Dec. 7 grand finale.
Violence continued in parts of the northern city of Kaduna, where 15 churches and eight mosques have been burned to the ground in two days of sectarian violence, said Shehu Sani, head of the CRC.
Sani said observers had counted 200 dead and 600 injured in fighting with security forces and hate attacks by rival Muslim and Christian gangs.
Organizers had hoped that the beauty contest, billed as the world's most watched television event, would brighten the image of Africa's most populous nation as a tourist destination.
Instead it provoked protests, at first confined to angry statements by Islamic leaders and religious scholars, but then escalating after the contestants arrived in Abuja this month.
The final straw came on Saturday last week when a Nigerian daily published an article previewing the pageant. The article was considered an insult to the Prophet.
Violence erupted in Kaduna when Muslim youths torched the local office of the newspaper responsible, and then fell to fighting with Christians and security forces.
On Sunday afternoon, weary Miss World contestants arrived in London. Dressed casually in jeans, sweaters and blouses, the contestants emerged pushing heavily laden baggage trollies, and were shepherded to a waiting bus by organizers.
"I feel very well. I'm happy to be back in London," said Miss France Caroline Chamorand.
"I am happy to be home, excited. Obviously it's been quite daunting but I'm just happy to be home, looking forward to seeing my family," said Miss England, 22-year-old Daniella Luan.