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Nigeria working to restore calm in the north: Christmas bomb suspect arrested
Clashes between Christians and Muslims late Wednesday had erupted in areas in and around the city of Kaduna, leaving at least five people dead, according to residents.
“The clashes started from unfounded rumours being bandied about on text messages of attacks and counter-attacks in the city, which provoked so much sentiment,” said police spokesman Aminu Lawan.
Kaduna state, where the violence began on Sunday, had been under a round-the-clock curfew as troops and police patrolled the area.
But officials said late Thursday that from Friday this would to be lifted between noon (06:00 EST) and 4:00pm (10:00EST).
Government officials were said to be consulting with religious leaders in Kaduna in an effort to ease tensions.
“We are talking both of conventional law enforcement strategies as well as what I would call a soft approach to conflict resolution,” said national police spokesman Frank Mba.
Kaduna city, the capital of the state of the same name, is a major city in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north and has a large Christian population.
The United States meanwhile said it had designated the head of the main branch of Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram a “global terrorist” along with two others tied to both Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda’s north African branch.
