| Rioters killed at least 50 people and burned down three mosques in fresh violence between Christians and Muslims in northern Nigeria, a journalist who visited the local morgue told AFP on Wednesday. Fighting erupted in Numan on Tuesday after the northeastern townâs Christian majority objected to local Muslims building a mosque with a minaret overlooking a local chiefâs palace, officials and witnesses said. Adamawa Stateâs Governor Boni Haruna visited the scene Wednesday and burst into tears when he found townâs hospital mortuary filled with 50 bodies left behind from the fighting, state radio reporter Ibrahim Abdulazeez said. Harunaâs spokesman Willie Zalwalie â who had earlier told AFP that seven more bodies had already been transferred to the state capital Yola â would not confirm the death toll, but said that the governor had been angry and upset. âThe governor was in Numan this afternoon where he declared a dusk until dawn curfew,â he said by telephone from Yola. âHe also gave an order to security personnel drafted to the town to shoot anybody they see trying to inflict harm on anyone or trying to destroy anything,â he added. âThe curfew will last until order is restored. Of course the governor wept, and anyone would do the same in such a situation,â Zalwalie said. He confirmed the visit to the morgue, but said it was too dark inside to count the bodies. |