24 hour curfew imposed on the troubled Jos, Capital of Plateau State in north-central Nigeria has been relaxed and will now be observed from 6 pm to 6 am just as more corpses are discovered ,with 120 found dumped in a village well in the outskirts of the city.
A statement issued on Sunday in Jos by the state government’s Director of Press, Mr. James Mannok, said the state’s security council had decided to review the curfew after assessing the situation.
He however said the ban on commercial motorcycles and sale of petrol in jerry cans was still in force.
The eruption of riots in Dutse-Uku quarters in the Nasarawa-Gwong area of Jos North Local Government Area on January 17, which spread to Bukuru two days later, prompted the government to impose a 24-hour curfew on the city.
The 24-hour curfew posed a challenge to residents of the state capital who had to search for food and water, and the government had to later relax it to between 5 pm and 10 am.
Mannok advised workers to go about their duties without any fear, adding that the public should pursue their legitimate businesses freely during the movement hours.
He said the government was aware that some people were circulating inciting publication in areas affected by the disturbances and warned such people to desist from their unpatriotic act or face the full wrath of the law.
Meanwhile, rescuers have continued to dig out more corpses. Many wells in the crisis areas were filled with human bodies, including children who were killed.
Apart from the 120 bodies discovered in wells in adjoining villages of Jos, 28 others were recovered on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the new acting Commissioner of Police has been deployed to the Plateau command as the government withdraws the substantive commissioner, Greg Anyating, who was recalled to Abuja in the wake of the crisis between Muslims and Christians.
The acting commissioner, Ikechukwu Aduba, was until the posting, in charge of the Mobile Police Force in Jos.
Source African Press Agency
