Scores of Bodies

Volunteers have recovered scores more corpses in Nigeria’s central Plateau state following violent and religiously motivated clashes which erupted in recent days. “Scores of bodies were picked up from streets, houses and open water wells in Kuru Karama, a village some 30 kilometres (19 miles) south of state capital Jos, the epicentre of four-days of Muslim-Christian clashes. Many of the victims had been thrown into drinking water wells in the outlying village, the leader of a Muslim aid team said. ‘So far we have retrieved 62 bodies but many more are still in the wells and I’m afraid we may have to sand-fill them because the bodies have decomposed so bad that the flesh disintegrates when we try to bring them out,’ Ibrahim Tanimu told AFP. Tanimu’s team piled the bodies into waiting vans late Thursday. Thousands of troops patrolled the streets of Jos and surrounding towns on Friday, manning checkpoints and stopping and searching vehicles. Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan pledged in an address late Thursday that the ringleaders responsible for the violence would be brought to justice.