Nigeria declares state emergency

Some 10,000 have died in communal clashes since 1999

Nigeria's leader has declared a state of emergency in Plateau State, where hundreds have died in communal clashes.

President Olusegun Obasanjo said there was a "near mutual genocide" in the central state, where rival groups started fighting over land and cattle.

Hundreds of Muslims were killed by Christian militants in the town of Yelwa earlier this month. In February, 49 Christians were killed in a church.

Tensions have also spread to other cities in Nigeria.

Army takeover

Mr Obasanjo suspended state governor Joshua Dariye, accusing him of being "weak and incompetent".

Muslim groups in Plateau State had accused Mr Dariye of telling "non-indigenes" - which correspondents say means Muslims - to leave the state.

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Mr Dariye, who is from Mr Obasanjo's People's Democratic Party, will be replaced by retired General Chris Ali for at least six months.

Mr Obasanjo said that if the violence in Plateau State was not stopped, it could spread across the country.

On 2 May, militants from the Christian Tarok ethnic group attacked the Muslim town of Yelwa, leaving hundreds dead.

Tarok farmers and Muslim Hausa-Fulani cattle-herders have frequently clashed over access to land and thousands have fled their homes.

In March, 20 people were killed in clashes between the two groups on the eve of local elections.

Angry exchanges

Muslim youths attacked Christians in the northern city of Kano last week, after Muslim groups held a march there to urge the government to take action in Plateau State.

Soldiers were sent to Kano - and were accused of killing civilians

Mr Obasanjo visited Plateau State last week and was involved in angry exchanges with religious leaders, who accused him of not doing enough to stop the violence.

He called one Christian leader a "total idiot".

Relations between Christians and Muslims are often tense in Nigeria, where the 130 million population are roughly equally split between the two religions.

At least 10,000 people have died in communal clashes since military rule ended in 1999, when Mr Obasanjo was elected.