The Muslim opposition candidate in Nigeria’s presidential polls rejected the results yesterday, but urged calm after deadly post-election riots, amid a rush to help nearly 40,000 displaced people.
Authorities say many were killed in the violence, which saw corpses burnt beyond recognition and bodies reportedly thrown into wells, but have refused to give a toll, saying it could spark reprisals and would be inaccurate.
There were reports of fresh clashes in the northern state of Kaduna overnight, with a community leader telling local radio “the killing was unbelievable and the destruction is colossal.”
One government official, explaining authorities’ reluctance to release an overall death toll since the vote on Saturday, said: “I wouldn’t like to use the term massacre ... some places it was terrible.”
Curfews and military patrols appeared to have brought an uneasy calm to many areas yesterday as the thousands who fled their homes in fear took refuge at police and military barracks, sleeping in the open under trees.
The Red Cross said it had counted around 410 people wounded in the violence that began sporadically in the country’s mainly Muslim north before spreading to some 14 states on Monday.
It has also said there were many dead, but has declined to give a number.
The number of displaced had increased to 39,700, its disaster management coordinator Umar Abdul Mairiga said yesterday.
The Red Cross warned that slow arrival of aid to those displaced by the unrest was causing anger to build, but a spokesman for the national emergency management agency said help was being hurriedly organized.
Authorities have argued that the rioting was instigated by those unhappy with the victory of incumbent Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, a southern Christian.
Jonathan took over in May last year following the death of his predecessor Umaru Yar’Adua, a northern Muslim who had not finished his first term, prompting bitterness in the north over its loss of power.
The main opposition presidential candidate, ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, has alleged widespread irregularities in Saturday’s election, but urged calm and said he would pursue his complaints through legal means.
In some areas “our supporters weren’t allowed to vote,” he told Voice of America radio’s Hausa-language service.
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