Nigeria: Vigilante leader freed

Frederic Fasheun consults his lawyer outside the court

A court in Nigeria has freed the leader of a militant Yoruba group who had faced murder charges following ethnic violence last month in which at least 100 people, mostly Hausas, were killed.

The prosecution withdrew the charges against Frederic Fasheun, of the Odua People's Congress (OPC).

It told the court there was no evidence to link him to the violence between Hausas and Yorubas in Lagos, which left many streets in Nigeria's biggest city strewn with bodies.

The government had blamed Mr Fasheun's group for inciting the clashes.

Vindicated

Speaking to journalists afterwards, Mr Fasheun said he felt vindicated by the outcome.

More than 100 people died in the violence

Murder charges against five others were also dismissed, but a further 36 people face other charges connected with the violence.

The Nigerian Government has not ruled out the possibility that it may appeal against the result.

The spokesman for President Olusegun Obasanjo, Doyin Okupe, told the French news agency the government would be looking into the result.

"We believe in our judicial system and their competency," he said.

"But if we think that justice has not been fully done or that an error has been committed... the federal government has the right to appeal," he added.

OPC banned

He also rejected Mr Fasheun's assertion that the government did not have the power to ban the OPC.

Thousands of Hausas fled to military barracks for protection during the unrest

"Frederick Fasheun is not the government... The government has said it has banned the OPC and as far as the government is concerned the OPC remains banned," he said.

The OPC, a vigilante group established in 1995 supposedly to fight for the Yoruba people, has been accused of involvement in a series of clashes in Lagos since democracy returned to Nigeria last year.

More than 200 suspects were arrested by police in connection with the Lagos violence after the government banned the vigilante group and ordered the arrest of its leaders and supporters.