A new outbreak of post-poll rioting in northern Nigeria left many dead overnight, the Red Cross said yesterday, after Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan appealed for unity following his win.
Authorities have not given a death toll for the rioting that began sporadically over the weekend over allegations of vote rigging and quickly spread to 14 states on Monday. An estimated 15,000 have been displaced.
“Things are relatively calm right now, but violent protests went on last night, especially in Kaduna, Katsina and Zamfara [states],” Umar Abdul Mairiga, the Nigeria Red Cross disaster management coordinator, told reporters. “What may come out of there is not very palatable because many people were killed, especially in southern Kaduna. The displaced people are getting hostile because nothing is coming up in terms of relief.”
Jonathan, the first president from the southern oil-producing Niger Delta region, was declared winner late on Monday of a landmark vote that exposed regional tensions and led to the deadly rioting.
He took 57 percent of the vote in Africa’s most populous nation, easily beating his northern rival, former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, who had 31 percent. Buhari has not spoken publicly of the results, but his party has rejected them and filed a challenge. In brief comments to the BBC’s Hausa service yesterday, Buhari condemned the rioting.
“I disassociate myself and my party from what happened,” he said. “I contested elections in 2003 and 2007, but I never resorted to violence. I have no reason to do so this time around. I urge people to remain calm and law abiding.”
An unspecified number of people were killed on Monday in the main northern city of Kano when homes and shops were attacked and also in Gombe when a home was set ablaze and in Kaduna, where mobs had stopped people on the highway.
Nigerian Vice President Namadi Sambo’s home was torched and a 24-hour curfew was imposed in his native state of Kaduna. A prison was raided and inmates set free.
Jonathan reached out to his opponents in his victory speech late on Monday and called for national unity, also saying Nigeria had shown itself capable of holding fair polls.
“I congratulate the candidates of the other political parties,” he said. “I regard them not as opponents, but as partners.”
Jonathan mentioned by name his main challengers, including Buhari, saying he wanted to pay tribute to them.
Observers hailed the conduct of the poll as a major step forward for a nation with a history of violent and deeply flawed elections.
The Project 2011 Swift Count group of local observers said on Monday the official results matched closely with its sample of 1,441 polling units. It called the results an “accurate reflection of how Nigerians voted.”
However, concerns were raised over Jonathan’s extraordinarily high totals in certain states, including his native Bayelsa, where he took 99.63 percent.
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