Attackers 'burn houses, kill two' in Nigeria

AFP

3 April 2011

Attackers 'burn houses, kill two' in Nigeria

KANO, Nigeria — Attackers stormed three villages in tense central Nigeria ahead of elections, killing at least two people and setting a number of houses ablaze, police said on Sunday.

It was not immediately clear whether the attacks early Saturday were linked to elections nor who was behind the violence in an area of Bauchi state repeatedly hit by clashes between Christian and Muslim ethnic groups.

A group of attackers stormed three predominately Christian farming villages in the Bogoro area, state police spokesman Mohammed Barau said.

"We have launched an investigation to determine who was behind the attacks and their motive as well as to ascertain the number of casualties and homes burnt," Barau said.

"From preliminary reports, two people have been killed in the attacks and several houses have been burnt."

The villages are near the border with Plateau state, the area of the so-called middle belt region between Nigeria's mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south hardest hit by ethnic clashes in recent years.