Five dead after continuing violence in Nigeria

April 25, 2010 Fresh violence has broken out in the central Nigerian city of earlier today, killing at least five people, according to witness reports.

The clashes began when the body of a seventeen year old Muslim teenager, supposedly strangled, was thrown onto a main street in the town in a sack, prompting riots. The Agence France-Presse (AFP) news service reports the dead body was that of a seventeen-year-old student.

The area has seen repeated conflicts between Christians and Muslims in the past.

"When the Muslims discovered the body, they took to the streets and barricaded roads, stabbing passers-by indiscriminately," said a military spokesman, Donald Oji.

According to security officials, the riots have been calmed down, although a youth curfew is still in place. "We now have the traditional chief and the youth leader of the area are with us and they are helping us with our investigation," a Plateau region police spokesman, Mohamad Lerama, told AFP.

The rioters primarily consisted of "some Muslim youths calling for revenge over the killing of a Muslim teenager," he said. "From reports reaching us, one Christian was killed in the protest. Both bodies have been taken to the hospital."