Death toll rises to 78 following violence in Nigeria

So far 78 people have been confirmed killed following the violence which erupted in Kaduna State, north Nigeria, since last week.

The death toll rose to that figure as local officials confirmed 23 people were killed and 17 others wounded as the violence spread to parts of the state capital Kaduna on Sunday.

Speaking to Xinhua on the latest casualty figure via telephone on Tuesday, Ben Kure, head of the State Emergency Management Agency, said the government was working to quell the crisis.

The latest violence in Kaduna, which is one of the states with a recent high number of attacks in the West African country, began last Thursday in Kasuwa Magani, a village about 31 kilometers away from the state capital.

The incident reportedly resulted from a disagreement over where traders were to be off-loading their wares for sales during the weekly Thursday market. Fifty-five people were earlier confirmed killed. All the victims were burned beyond recognition.

The state government declared a 24-hour curfew last Friday in Kasuwa Magani town. But as the violence continued on Sunday, spreading to other parts of the Kaduna metropolis, the government further placed another 24-hour curfew.

Many residents of Kaduna metropolis on Sunday rushed indoors as irate youth burned old tires along the major roads, in protest of the killing of their loved ones in Kasuwa Magani.

Hoodlums took advantage of the situation to kill and maim innocent people, local police said.

Soldiers and riot police were seen deployed to major roads in the town on Monday. Local schools, offices, shops, and other business centers were under lock and key as residents complied with the sit-at-home order.

Governor Nasir El-Rufai in the company of security operatives went to the places affected by the crises to ensure that calm was restored, saying 25 people have been arrested in connection with the mayhem.

El-Rufai assured residents that the government will prosecute those responsible for the violence in the state.

A Xinhua reporter in Kaduna said relative calm and normalcy has returned to the metropolis on Tuesday.