Troops deployed after 13 killed near Jos

Soldiers rushed to restore calm in a village near Jos yesterday after 13 people were reported killed in an attack on a village and unrest flared in other areas.

I am told that 13 people died in the dawn attack, said Plateau state police commissioner Abdulrahman Akano, adding that officers had been sent to the mainly Christian village of Wareng to verify.

Details of the attack were not immediately clear. The commander Joint Military Task Force (JTF) said unrest had occurred in other areas of the region as well and soldiers had been deployed to restore calm.

"We have quite a number of people killed, Brigadier General Hassan Umaru told AFP. We are trying to contain each of these crises. He could not immediately provide details on the unrest. Umaru first reported incidents in several villages, but later said two villages had been hit.

A local politician also told AFP that 13 people were believed killed in Wareng, alleging Fulani Muslims had attacked Christian Beroms in the village. Emmanuel Danboyi Jugul also accused soldiers of being involved in the attack, though Umaru strongly denied the claim.

Plateau state, including its capital Jos, has long been on edge, but unprecedented Christmas Eve bomb blasts added a frightening new dimension to the unrest. A sect blamed for a series of attacks north claimed responsibility for the Christmas Eve explosions, but authorities cast doubt on the claim and attributed it to political motives with elections set for April.

Scores of people have been killed in clashes in Plateau in unrest many attribute to the struggle for economic and political power between Christian and Muslim ethnic groups.

Christians from the Berom ethnic group are typically referred to as the indigenes in the region, while Hausa-Fulani Muslims are seen as more recent arrivals.

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More killed in Jos intercommunal violence

Christian youths attacked a car full of Muslims returning from a wedding in Jos, Plateau State, seven people inside the vehicle and sparking retaliatory violence that left one other person dead, AP has reported, quoting a Muslim lawyer.

It was the latest unrest in a fertile region that saw more than 500 people killed last year in massacres pitting Christians against Muslims.

AP reports that on Saturday, gunshots echoed through the troubled city of Jos, causing store owners to close their shops and families to hide inside their homes.

The violence began as Christian youths blocked a road leading from a neighboring village Friday night, trapping the Muslims inside their car, said lawyer Ahmed Garba, a member of an Islamic religious council. Garba told journalists Saturday that seven people died in the attack and one person survived.

Garba said once news of the attack spread, Muslims began retaliatory violence in the streets of Jos that has left at least one person dead.

Plateau state police commissioner Abdurrahman Akano said investigators received word of the Friday night attack, but had not found any bodies.

Manassie Panpe, the Red Cross' state secretary, said officials from the aid organisation had found several injured people in the streets Saturday but that information remained scarce.

On Christmas Eve, two bombs went off near a large market in Jos where people were doing last-minute Christmas shopping. A third hit a mainly Christian area of Jos, while the fourth was near a road that leads to the city's main mosque.

Officials initially said at least 32 died from the blasts, while an official with the National Emergency Management Agency told journalists that he had counted 80 deaths from the explosions and the retaliatory violence that followed.

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Former Super Eagle Uche Okafor Is Found Dead

A report on SuperSport.com said that he had taken his daughter to school earlier in the day and was later found to be hanging from a rope in his home.

“Seriously I still find it hard to believe when I got the call from the US yesterday (Thursday) evening. This is a really sad way to begin the year,” former team mate Ben Iroha was quoted by the website.

Dallas coroners have cordoned off the area while carrying out investigations into possible suicide.

Okafor was a member of Nigeria's victorious Super Eagles at the 1994 African Cup of Nations. He also played a game in the country's World Cup run in 1998.

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Siasia makes Shola Ameobi approach

Newcastle striker, Shola Ameobi could yet get a chance to play international football, with Nigeria.

It is understood that Nigeria coach Samson Siasia has made contact with Ameobi, who has publicly declared his intention to cast his lot with the Super Eagles.

Siasia is on the path to rebuilding the team after a calamitous World Cup and Ameobi, despite his intermittent goalscoring, may get a chance to stake his claim.

Sources close to the coach informed that discussions have been held with Ameobi's father John, with a view to meeting up with the player when Siasia visits England later this month.

Ameobi, 29, was born in Zaria, Nigeria, but moved to England at the age of 5.

Siasia is also said to have had fruitful telephone conversations with Sunderland defender Nedum Onuoha, although a final decision on the player's future will not be made until both men meet face to face.

Both players, born in Nigeria, have represented England at Under 21 level but remain eligible to represent their country of birth.

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Nigeria to sign trade pact with Pakistan

Federal government of Nigeria has promise to finalise a trade agreement with Pakistan as soon as necessary processes have been completed.

Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Abubakar Mohammad stated this during a courtesy visit by the Acting High Commissioner of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Mr. Ahmed Ali Sihorey to the Ministry's Headquarters in Abuja.

Receiving the envoy, Dr. Muhammad said the volume of trade between both countries has improved tremendously compared to the previous years. "The trade volume between Nigeria and Islamic Republic of Pakistan has improved that we are ready to strengthen the trade bond between the two countries," he said.

He assured the High Commissioner of Federal Government's readiness to create a conducive environment for trade and investment to thrive in the country. He as well sympathized with the government of Pakistan over the recent flooding in the country on behalf of government and people of Nigeria.

Earlier, the Acting High Commissioner, Mr. Ahmed Sihorey said he came for a follow-up to the re-opening of the Pakinstani Trade Mission and Office in Lagos and called for stronger relationship between the two countries adding that Pakistan is ready to cooperate with Nigeria in the area of trade and investment.

He also sought for joint venture between private sectors of both countries and urged the ministry to fast tract the signing of the draft Bilateral Trade Agreement between both countries and opening of trade missions in both countries saying that opening of the commercial centre will go a long way in boosting trade and investment in Nigeria and Pakistan.

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