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.