Obasanjo declares state of emergency

NIGERIA’S president declared a state of emergency yesterday in the state of Plateau, sacking the governor and dissolving the state legislature following Muslim and Christian fighting that has killed hundreds.

President Olusegun Obasanjo said Governor Joshua Dariye and elected officials had “encouraged acts that have subverted peace and tranquility”.

Replacing Dariye is retired Major General Chris Ali.

It was the first time Obasanjo invoked emergency powers since his election in 1999.

Since then, ethnic, political and religious violence has left more than 10,000 dead.

“We need to take serious steps to stem the tide of what has become a near- mutual genocide in the affected areas of Plateau state,” Obasanjo said.

The fighting began in September 2001 when more than 1,000 were killed in the city of Jos.

The bloodshed escalated earlier this month with the killings of hundreds of Muslims by Christian ethnic militia members in Yelwa. Muslims killed scores of Christians last week in the city of Kano in apparent revenge.

Dariye’s spokesman Stanley Bentu said the governor accepted the declaration.