Thousands displaced in wake of Nigerian mosque attack

Jan 11, 2012, 12:32 GMT

Abuja - More than 8,000 people have been displaced after an attack the day before on a mosque in the southern Nigerian city of Benin, the Nigerian Red Cross told dpa Wednesday.

The attack - in which 25 people stormed the mosque and a Koranic school next door - left five people dead and several more injured.

A police source said young people had 'capitalized on (fuel subsidy protests) to carry out a reprisal attack on Muslims as revenge after (attacks) on southerners in the north.'

Nigeria's south is heavily Christian while the north is heavily Muslim. Tensions between the two regions have been on the rise in the wake of recent attacks by radical Islamist group Boko Haram on Christians in the north.

The displaced after Tuesday's attack are mainly Muslims from Nigeria's northern states who have settled in the south. They have sought refuge in police stations, military barracks and the city's royal palace - a 13th-century UNESCO heritage site.

Among those who fled the city is Mustapha Duste, a currency trader.

'In my 40 years here, this is the first time such violence has ever taken place,' he told dpa. 'The people here are generally peace-loving,' he said.

'If this is retaliation for Boko Haram's attacks, then it is unfair for us to pay such a price,' Duste added.

Attacks on places of worship in Nigeria have claimed at least 50 lives since Christmas Day, when a coordinated spate of bombings targeted churches around the country.

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the Christmas Day blasts.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's mosque attack, nor for a blast at a bar in Yobe that killed eight people, also Tuesday night.