Obasanjo demands end to strife

Mr Obasanjo made a tour of the battered city

The Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo has visited the central city of Jos following religious violence believed to have left as many as 500 people dead.

Clashes broke out between the city's Muslim and Christian groups on 7 September, and intensified earlier this week in the wake of the devastating attacks on the United States.

It is a gory site. I have gone around to see things for myself

President Obasanjo

Mr Obasanjo described the violence that has occurred in Jos as an "an act of extreme barbarity".

A BBC correspondent who was in the city when the clashes broke out said she saw two people killed with machetes. Their attackers praised God as they carried out the murders.

Hundreds dead

Thousands of inhabitants have reportedly fled their homes, and have been sheltering in army camps outside the city.

An army contingent has been sent into the city to enforce a curfew in the hope of preventing further outbreaks of violence.

Mr Obasanjo fears the bloodshed could spread

In addition to the dead, more than 1,000 people have reportedly been injured in the course of the clashes.

According to the French news agency AFP, some 300 people have been arrested, although it is as yet unclear how many have been charged.

Mr Obasanjo has said the violence was a disgrace for the country.

"It is a gory site," he said after touring the city. "I have gone around to see things for myself."

Spreading tensions

The population of Jos, the capital of the Plateau State, is overwhelmingly Christian, but there is a sizeable Muslim community.

Fulanis and Hausas - two of Nigeria's largest ethnic groups - make up a large proportion of the Muslims in the city.

Relations between Christians and Muslims in northern Nigeria have been tense since the introduction of the Sharia Islamic law in 12 states.

In February last year, more than 2,000 people were killed in religious unrest in Kaduna, and some 450 more Nigerians died in reprisals in the south-east of the country.

Reuters reports that Mr Obasanjo has sent ministerial delegations to other potential trouble spots to appeal for calm and to stop the bloodshed spreading across the country.