Nigerian villagers flee slaughter

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Nearly 3000 people have fled to a neighbouring state after hundreds were slaughtered in several mostly Christian villages in Nigeria over the weekend, aid officials say.

Residents have accused police and military of failing to provide enough security to the villages where attackers managed to elude a dusk-til-dawn curfew.

On Thursday, thousands of women took to the streets in protest, singing and waving branches full of green leaves - a traditional sign of protest. They also carried Bibles and crosses made out of scrap lumber. One held a sign that said: "God hears when we cry. Just be warned."

Governor Jonah Jang, who leads the Christian-dominated state government, declared the next three days as a period of fasting and mourning for the dead.

"All of Plateau state is crying," 40-year-old resident Bisklm Dyoma said. "The children are dying."

At least 200 people, most of them Christians, were slaughtered on Sunday, according to residents, aid groups and journalists. The victims included dozens of children. In January, more than 300 people were killed, most of them Muslims.

Nigeria is almost evenly split between Muslims in the north and the predominantly Christian south. The recent bloodshed has been happening in central Nigeria, in Nigeria's "middle belt," where dozens of ethnic groups vie for control of fertile lands.

The weekend killings add to the tally of thousands who already have perished in Africa's most populous country in the last decade due to religious and political frictions.

Rioting in September 2001 killed more than 1000 people. Muslim-Christian battles killed up to 700 people in 2004. More than 300 residents died during a similar uprising in 2008.

The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Nigerian Red Cross said that they are distributing food and water to nearly 5000 people who have taken refuge in various police stations and to some 300 detainees.

The group said that the 3000 people fleeing to Bauchi state will join some 3800 already displaced there by January's violent clashes.

- AP