Chaos broke out in the heart of Jos in Nigeria's Plateau State on the afternoon of 15 February, when a mobile police officer was stabbed to death at the Terminus Market following an argument with a butcher. In the ensuing panic, at least six other people were killed and ten injured.

According to eyewitnesses, the mobile policeman and the butcher argued after he stopped at the butcher's stall. The butcher, a Hausa Muslim, slashed the police officer with his knife, ripping open his stomach. Another butcher nearby also lashed out at another individual at the scene. In the chaos that followed, people fled in all directions, two motorcycles were set ablaze and their riders attacked, and two other individuals were killed instantly on the street.  Within an hour, panic spread throughout the town and shops, with banks and other businesses quickly closing their doors. 

As the mayhem spread, traders in Rwang Pam Street began to attack commercial motorcycle riders who perceived to be Hausas in apparent retaliation for the earlier murders. At Gada Biyu Main Street a man was lynched and his body set ablaze. The driver of a car was attacked in front of the Bingham University Teaching Hospital, dragged from his vehicle and lynched. A few metres further down the street another man was attacked, thrown in the gutter and left for dead.

A military van, with a captain and some soldiers eventually arrived at the scene, but did little to intervene. Later, four people were reported to have been arrested in connection with the violence.

CSW has now learned that a group of Fulani attackers were responsible for the attack on Shekan village in Jos South on 12 February in which grandmother Garos Deme was beheaded and her grandchildren Dauda and Meshack Timothy and Mr. Monday Mwanvwang were also killed, The killings occurred less than 48 hours after the signing of a much-vaunted peace agreement between local tribes and the Fulani community.

CSW's National Director Stuart Windsor said, "The situation in Jos is now so volatile that one violent incident triggers several more, and no one in the vicinity of such an outbreak of lawlessness is safe. The fact that such an incident can occur in daylight in the heart of the state capital once again underlines the need for effective policing and improved security measures in Plateau State. "

For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Kiri Kankhwende, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0045 / +44 (0) 78 2332 9663, email kiri@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian organisation working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.