Thousands of people have fled Christian-Muslim riots in which least 70 people were killed in the central Nigerian city of Jos, residents said yesterday.
They said the displaced people had taken refuge in police or military barracks enduring fear, hunger and thirst.
"Some of them have lost all their property in the fighting and the conditions in the barracks are deplorable," said one resident. A reporter said most refugees still feared to return home, even though an uneasy calm now hangs over the tin-mining city, better known for its pleasant weather and postcard landscape.
Nigeria's former military ruler, Mr Yakubu Gowon, flew into Jos on Saturday to try to broker peace between the two communities. President Olusegun Obasanjo may have enlisted Mr Gowon to try and obtain a ceasefire because he is well respected by Christians and Muslims.
Soldiers patrolled the city yesterday after two days of Christian-Muslim clashes. They picked up more bodies overnight as authorities tightened a 12-hour night curfew to deal with looting.
The trigger for Friday's flare-up was a wrangle between Christians and Muslims after a Christian woman allegedly breached a barricade erected to control traffic around the central mosque area during Friday prayers, residents said.