Officials and human rights groups in Nigeria say that about 500 people were killed this weekend due to ethnic violence near the city of Jos. The victims were Christians killed by Muslim herdsmen who apparently were seeking revenge for similar attacks against Muslims in January. The city of Jos has been considered a hotbed of ethnic and religious violence because it it near the dividing line between the country's mainly Christian south and Muslim north. Hundreds on both sides have been killed as recently as January. The information commissioner for Plateau (the state where the attacks took place) said the attackers this weekend were "hoodlums, Fulani herdsmen", who are Muslims from the neighboring state of Bauchi. He said they were going after Christians that are members of Plateau's leading ethnic group, the Berom, in the villages of Ratt and Dogo Nahawa. The attacks began at 2 AM and lasted for four hours. The attackers first began firing guns and then they set homes on fire. Some died in the fires; others were attacked with machetes as they came out of their burning homes. The information commissioner said the attackers killed mostly women, children, and elderly people.
The attacks come at a time when Nigeria is in a political crisis. The President of Nigeria, Umaru Yar'Adua, fell gravely ill and he left the country in November to seek medical help. His absence created a dangerous power vacuum in Nigeria. His vice president, Goodluck Jonathan (yes, that's really his name), was finally appointed as the acting president by the National Assembly. It has been rumored that President Yar'Adua has returned to Nigeria -- though his state of health is unclear. There has been speculation that he's still on a life support machine. There are still questions about how much authority Goodluck Jonathan has. Mr. Jonathan had sent troops to Jos in January to quell violence, but security forces were scarce this past weekend. Mr. Peter from the League for Human Rights, a Nigerian group, said there were just two military personnel hanging around the village. One villager who was present during the attacks said, "We thought the military would protect us." (Full Story)
China's foreign minister is shaking things up: He recently said in a news conference that relations with the U.S. have been "seriously disrupted". Looks like someone got a hold of a thesaurus! There has been tension between the two countries recently due to China's internet censorship, trade disputes, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, and President Obama meeting with the Dalai Lama. The foreign minister of China said, "The responsibility does not lie with China." He added that the U.S. "must respect China's core interests" and that "resolutely adhering to one's principled stance is not the same thing as being hardline." [Though I do believe that is the definition of hardline...]. Last weekend, the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said he wanted trade friction with the U.S. to ease. (Full Story)
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