LAGOS,
November 22 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Dozens have been
killed in northern Nigeria in riots that erupted over a Miss World
beauty contest article that slandered Prophet Muhammad (Peace and
prayers be upon him), as
local leaders tried to calm anger.
The
government has appealed for calm and has assured Muslims that those
responsible for the ThisDay article would be brought to
book, for exceeding the bounds of responsible journalism, BBC News
Online reported.
ThisDay
has retracted the offending article and has published apologies.
The
chairman of the group that owns the Lagos-based paper suggested that a
computer glitch could have been to blame for the fact that the story
went to press in the first place.
Earlier,
at least 100 people have been killed in rioting between Muslims and
Christians in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna, a Red Cross
official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) Friday, November 22.
George
Bennet, Nigeria representative of the International Federation of the
Red Cross, said that a 50-strong Nigerian Red Cross emergency team in
Kaduna had confirmed the deaths.
"There
are also indications that the trouble has flared again this
morning," he said.
Earlier, a spokesman for the Nigerian Red Cross was unable to
confirm the death toll, but said that at least 521 injured people had
been evacuated by volunteer medical teams to city hospitals.
Shehu
Sani, head of the Kaduna-based Civil Rights Congress told AFP by
telephone from the city that observers from his agency had seen 50
dead and many injured in various parts of the city.
"The
situation has further aggravated, there have been more burnings of
churches and mosques," he said. "Initially the attacks were
mostly by Muslims, but now Christians are retaliating."
Reverend
James Wuye, who represents an inter-faith group set up to broker peace
between the communities, confirmed that a riot that began as a Muslim
protest against a "blasphemous" newspaper article has now
turned into a sectarian conflict.
"Last
night there were reprisal attacks against Muslims in the northern part
of Kaduna," he said. "Now there is an uneasy calm. Religious
leaders are meeting with the state governor this morning to try and
find a way to restore peace."
All
three officials said that a curfew due to end this morning had been
extended through the day.
Fighting
broke out in Kaduna Wednesday, November 20, when Muslim youths
protesting against an offending article on the Miss World Beauty
pageant, which is due to be held in Nigeria on December 7, burned down
a newspaper office.
The protests began after an article appeared in a newspaper
suggesting that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) would probably have chosen to
marry one of the contestants if he had witnessed the beauty pageant,
said BBC.
According
to AFP, the newspaper suggested that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) would have
approved of the Miss World beauty contest.
Muslim
groups complain that the contest is immoral and degrading to women,
and are also angry that preliminary events began during the holy
fasting month of Ramadan, said BBC.
On Thursday, November 21, the fighting became more general as a
protest march degenerated into attacks on Christian churches and
homes, witnesses said.
Several
places of worship have been burned out and police and soldiers
deployed to the streets.
Kaduna is one of Nigeria's most volatile cities;
more than 2,000 people died there in clashes between Christians and
Muslims two years ago, according to BBC.
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