At least 80 reported dead in Nigerian clashes

At least 80 people are said to have died in Nigeria’s Christmas bomb attacks and subsequent clashes between armed Christian and Muslim gangs.

A government agency says its figure, more than double that published by police, is based on the number of bodies recovered.

The violence happened in and around the city of Jos, which lies in Nigeria’s volatile “Middle Belt” between Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north and Christian south.

As armed police continue to patrol the streets to try to prevent further trouble, unconfirmed reports from Lagos say the Boko Haram Islamist sect has claimed responsibility for attacks on Christians.

Churches were attacked and there were bomb blasts in nearby villages.

The state governor says he believes the violence was politically motivated.

Previous clashes between Christians and Muslims have caused deaths but coordinated bomb attacks are seen as something new.

Observers say the root cause of such clashes is often poverty and disputes over access to land.

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