Nigerian authorities have sought to calm tensions after what was believed to be several Christmas Eve blasts killing at least eight people.
|||Lagos - Nigerian authorities sought to calm tensions on Saturday after what was believed to be several Christmas Eve blasts killed at least eight people in an area previously hit by sectarian violence.
“The situation is tense now and we just want to pacify the people,” state police spokesman Mohammed Lerama told AFP, refusing to comment further.
A national police spokesman has said at least eight people were killed in an explosion on Friday night in the city of Jos, in central Nigeria, but the state information commissioner and residents have reported several explosions.
The commissioner, Gregory Yenlong, also reported some 20 dead, but police cast doubt on the information.
Police say they have not determined the cause, but Yenlong said there had been rumours of attacks aimed at disrupting Christmas celebrations in recent days.
Local media attributed the explosions to bombs and death tolls varied widely.
Jos is in the so-called middle-belt region between the predominantly Muslim north and the mainly Christian south and has long been a hotspot of ethnic and religious friction in Nigeria.
Local rights groups say 1,500 people have died in inter-communal violence in the Jos region since the start of this year alone.
Many observers say the violence has resulted from politicians stoking ethnic divisions in a local struggle for power. - AFP
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