Red Cross estimates put Nigerian death toll at 100

Street between rival ethnic militias killed 100 people and injured another 1,000 in Nigeria's volatile southern oil port of Warri, the Red Cross said on Friday, citing witness accounts and body counts.

The estimate was the most authoritative yet of the toll in five days of violence; government officials had refused to give firm numbers, fearing it would further inflame tensions.

Emmanuel Ijewere, president of the Nigerian Red Cross, said the situation had calmed after authorities flooded the city with troops and riot police, enabling the humanitarian agency to piece together the extent of damage.

"We have reason to believe the number of people who died [is] close to 100," Ijewere said.

Another people were injured while more than 4,000 people were displaced, most from homes that were burned in the violence, Ijewere said.

The Delta state government said on Thursday it had secured a ceasefire between militant Itsekiri fighters and rival Ijaw belligerents.

Bands youths from the neighboring ethnic communities had battled with automatic weapons in the streets of Warri, a major base for multinational oil companies.

Governor James Ibori of Delta state met on Friday with youth leaders from the warring sides to try to consolidate the ceasefire. The main Ijaw militant group boycotted the meeting, accusing the governor of being partisan to Itsekiri interests.

"We didn't put up representation because Ibori sees himself as governor of the Itsekiris," Bello Oboko, leader of the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities, said. "We have no confidence in the so-called ceasefire."

He accused the governor of triggering the latest bloodbath by issuing an order on Ijaws on July 16 to leave the MacIver district of Warri, claimed by Itsekiris. "The fighting started when Itsekiris tried to enforce the governor's quit notice," Oboko said.

Matthew Tsekure of the Itsekiri National Youth Council confirmed the fighting was stoked by the dispute over ownership of the MacIver district, worst-hit by the violence.

An to Ibori speaking on condition of anonymity dismissed the Ijaw claims insisting the governor was "an impartial mediator" seeking a lasting solution to the ethnic violence that has rocked Warri in recent years.

Ijaws President Olusegun Obasanjo's government favors their Itsekiri rivals in the distribution of political patronage.

Nigerian said on Friday they were sending a special military task force to the Niger Delta to check the growing security threats to oil operations in the region.

Defense spokesman Colonel Ganiyu Adewale said the security agencies will aim to curb the theft of about 300,000 barrels of oil daily, or 15 percent of Nigeria's output, by criminal gangs believed to be funneling weapons back into the region from the proceeds of illegally sold crude.