Nigerian state split on emergency

Thousands have fled the clashes in Plateau State

Residents of Plateau State are divided over the emergency which was declared this week after hundreds were killed in communal clashes.

Some Christians are angry at the suspension of the governor, while Muslims welcome the move.

The BBC's Anna Borzello says life in the state capital Jos looks normal, with shops open and heavy traffic.

President Olusegun Obasanjo said serious action was needed to deal with a "near mutual-genocide".

However, clashes have continued despite the state of emergency, with a Muslim militia attacking the Christian village of Sabon Gida on Tuesday.

"I am aware that about five people were killed in the incident, but more troops have been moved to the area," Plateau police commissioner Innocent Ilozuoke said in Jos.

Sabon Gida is near Yelwa, where hundreds of Muslims were killed earlier this month.

Governors' backing

The state of emergency has been approved by both houses of parliament, as well as the state governors.

The Governors' Forum said the move had already reduced tension in Plateau and elsewhere in Nigeria.

Analysis: Roots of violence

However, the governors also urged President Obasanjo to reconsider the suspension of democratic institutions in the state.

Governor Bola Tinubu of Lagos state did not endorse the statement, instead condemning the state of emergency as unconstitutional.

Earlier the newly appointed governor of Plateau, Chris Ali, made a call for peace in the troubled state, warning that if Nigerians wanted to see where hatred and intolerance could lead, they should consider what happened in Rwanda.

Under Nigeria's federal system, governors have considerable power within their own states, while the president normally deals with national issues.

'Idiot cleric'

At one church, an angry woman said she didn't understand why a state of emergency had been called in Plateau when crises are going in all over Nigeria.

Her views were echoed by Reverend Yakubu Pam from the Christian Association of Nigeria, who suggested the decision was part of a Muslim plot supported by the president, who is a Christian.

Some 10,000 have died in communal clashes since 1999

Mr Obasanjo called Reverend Pam "a total idiot" when he visited Jos last week, after the church leader questioned the president's commitment to ending the clashes.

However Muslims from the Hausa and Fulani ethnic groups have welcomed the state of emergency, largely because they blame suspended governor Joshua Dariye, a Christian, for inflaming the conflict which has left hundreds dead since the start of the year.

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

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.