Thirty-nine people died and 30 were injured in fierce fighting between Christian and Muslim mobs in central Nigeria's Taraba state on Friday, prompting a round-the-clock curfew, police said. Scores of houses were set ablaze and destroyed during the clashes in the town of Wukari which come amid a surge in religious violence in the west African nation.
"We have so far compiled a death toll of 39 people while 30 others were seriously injured," state police spokesman Joseph Kwaji told AFP on Saturday. Local residents told AFP that the death toll could rise. "Thirty-two houses have also been destroyed in the violence," Kwaji said of the unrest which has prompted authorities to impose an indefinite all-round curfew in the predominantly Christian city.
He added that 40 suspects were arrested in the aftermath of the violence. State information commissioner Emmanuel Bello said that extra troops were deployed to the city on Saturday to bolster security. Tensions have been on the rise in Wukari since February, when a dispute over the use of a football pitch between Muslim and Christian soccer teams set off sectarian riots that claimed several lives.