- News>
- World
Thirty-six die in royal power struggle in Nigeria
Thirty-six people died when militants clashed with palace guards in a southwestern town in Nigeria at the weekend, raising to almost 200 the numbers killed in communal violence in the country this month.
Thirty-six people died when militants clashed with palace guards in a southwestern town in Nigeria at the weekend, raising to almost 200 the numbers killed in communal violence in the country this month.
Twenty-five people died on Saturday and 11 more died of their wounds overnight after members of a banned ethnic militant organisation, the Odua People Congress (OPC), fought guards of the traditional ruler of the town of Owo, in the latest turn in a dispute over control of the royal house, police and hospital workers told reporters.
Eleven people injured in the clashes died Sunday morning, a worker at the federal medical centre in the town told reporters by telephone.
This added to the 25 who had died on Saturday, Ondo state police commissioner Paul Ochonu said. Twenty-five people had been killed as at last night when I was in Owo, Ochonu told reporters.
Nigeria, a country of more than 120 million people, is split between two major religions -- Islam and Christianity -- and divided into m ore than 250 ethnic and linguistic groups.
Over the years, the country has been repeatedly shaken by ethnic and communal violence.
The latest clash was between different factions of the Yoruba, the dominant ethnic group in southwest Nigeria and one of the three largest ethnic groups in the country.
In the traditional Yoruba system, a series of royal families govern different towns, the ruler of Owo being known as the 'Olowo' (or King) of Owo.
Bureau Report
Twenty-five people died on Saturday and 11 more died of their wounds overnight after members of a banned ethnic militant organisation, the Odua People Congress (OPC), fought guards of the traditional ruler of the town of Owo, in the latest turn in a dispute over control of the royal house, police and hospital workers told reporters.
Eleven people injured in the clashes died Sunday morning, a worker at the federal medical centre in the town told reporters by telephone.
This added to the 25 who had died on Saturday, Ondo state police commissioner Paul Ochonu said. Twenty-five people had been killed as at last night when I was in Owo, Ochonu told reporters.
Nigeria, a country of more than 120 million people, is split between two major religions -- Islam and Christianity -- and divided into m ore than 250 ethnic and linguistic groups.
Over the years, the country has been repeatedly shaken by ethnic and communal violence.
The latest clash was between different factions of the Yoruba, the dominant ethnic group in southwest Nigeria and one of the three largest ethnic groups in the country.
In the traditional Yoruba system, a series of royal families govern different towns, the ruler of Owo being known as the 'Olowo' (or King) of Owo.
Bureau Report