Frightened residents flooded a military checkpoint to flee the Nigerian city of Jos yesterday after Muslim-Christian clashes that killed some 450 people and left scores of buildings burnt.
While the fighting has subsided in the central city and troops have been deployed to end the unrest, fleeing residents said they remained too frightened to stay.
At a military checkpoint on the outskirts of Jos, where long lines of cars and buses carrying fleeing residents formed, soldiers searched all vehicles. Several vehicles were laden with baggage.
“The last few days have been very traumatizing for me and my two children,” Samira Yaya, 32, said as she was leaving Jos.
“My husband is out of the country on a business trip. We were indoors without food or water with killings and burnings all around us. I am going to Kano to stay with my family until my husband returns. I feel uneasy here,” she said.
Danladi Kabir, a 28-year-old trader, said as he crammed luggage into a taxi that he was leaving Jos for his Jigawa home state in Northern Nigeria.
“My family in Jigawa has been agitated over the fighting in Jos and my safety,” he said. “The best way to assure them I am alive is to visit home.”
At least 150 bodies were recovered from wells after the clashes, a village head said on Saturday, taking the unofficial death toll compiled from various sources to 464.
State officials have given no official death toll for the violence, which broke out on Jan. 17 in Jos and spread to nearby towns and villages.
Dozens of cars, houses, churches and mosques were also burnt during the four days of unrest. A curfew remained in effect between 5pm and 10am.
The head of Kuru Karama village, Umar Baza, said that 150 bodies were dug out from the wells and that 60 more people were still missing.
Kuru Karama is a Muslim enclave in a Christian region 30km south of Jos.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Saturday that according to figures provided by Muslim leaders, at least 364 Muslims died in the clashes.
“As of yesterday [Friday], at least 364 Muslims have died in Jos, including those found in wells in Kuru Karama. This information was provided by Muslim officials in Jos,” HRW spokesman Eric Guttschuss said.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS