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Ban calls for restraint in Nigeria's ethnic conflict
Mar 8, 2010, 17:04 GMT
New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called on Nigerian factions to exercise 'maximum restraint' as fighting between Muslims and Christians over the weekend killed at least 200 people.
'Nigerian political and religious leaders should work together to address the underlined causes and to achieve a permanent solution to the crisis in Jos,' Ban said in a statement, calling the killing 'appalling.'
Tensions were high in Nigeria's central Plateau state Monday after Muslim herdsmen raided Christian villages near the restive city of Jos, hacking to death at least 200 people.
The massacre is the latest outbreak of violence between rival ethnic groups in Plateau state, where the indigenous Christians are struggling with northern Muslims, who immigrated to the region decades ago, over control of land and resources.
More than 10,000 people have died in ethnic clashes since Nigeria's return to civilian rule in 1999.
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