More than 200 dead in Nigeria violence

story by AP

JOS, Nigeria - A reporter says he counted more than 200 dead bodies after renewed religious violence between Christians and Muslims in central Nigeria.
Yemi Kosoko, a reporter with the independent Nigerian news network Channels, told The Associated Press on Sunday that most of the bodies appeared to be women and children killed by blows from machetes. Kosoko says he made the count Sunday afternoon with an official from the state government in a village just south of the city of Jos.

A Red Cross spokesman says the military has surrounded the villages affected by the violence and hundreds of people have fled.


More than 300 people died in religious violence in January around Jos. Sectarian violence in this region of Nigeria has left thousands dead over the past decade.