Shocking brutality as thousands flee

LAGOS, Nigeria -- Scores have died in horrifying ethnic violence in Nigeria, but now the fear is of reprisals, says CNN's Lagos Bureau Chief Jeff Koinange.

Q: What has been happening on the streets of Lagos?

A: Earlier on Tuesday I saw hundreds of people streaming out of the working class area of Idi Araba in droves after literally hundreds of homes were destroyed.

I saw corpses set on fire and many others dumped in the gutter. I counted a dozen bodies but the locals told us there were a lot more. Generally they were shot or hacked to death with crude machetes and cutlasses then burned.

It is really shocking to see the brutality involved.

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There were marauding bands of young men carrying everything from cutlasses to machetes. When they saw someone who didn't look like them they just -- in their own words -- "slaughtered them."

Later the military arrived. "We are in control" said a senior military officer.

He arrived with 100 heavily armed men who spread out into the area to see if they could contain the violence of the past four days.

The officer tried to reassure residents to come back home.

Ironically the people who have detested the military for the longest time are now welcoming them back saying they prefer the military to be in control because there is some semblance of law and order.

The police didn't want to come back but the military have now taken over this neighbourhood.

Q: What sparked off the violence?

A: The cause was the desecration of a mosque. Someone was said to have defecated outside the mosque.

But to provoke that level of violence must show a lot of deep undercurrents in Nigerian society. Nigeria is a country of 200 ethnic groups and each one is trying to find a distinct place in society.

Q: Which ethnic groups are involved in this particular violence?

A: There are two groups, the Hausas are Muslims mostly from the north of the country. The Yorubas are mainly Christians from the southwest.

The Yorubas are dominant in this area and up to now most of the attacks have been by Yorubas on Hausas.

But the biggest fear now is of reprisal attacks. Up in the mainly Muslim north there are some Christian communities and the fear is the Hausas may turn on them because of what has happened in Lagos.

We are definitely getting reports of possible reprisal attacks but no one wants to go too far and get involved in it.

Q: How is the violence linked to the munitions depot explosion last week?

A: Really they are not linked at all. They are unrelated.

The only link is the frustration of the people towards the government they feel has not done enough and has let them down. That may have been a catalyst to the latest violence.

Q: How has the government reacted?

A: Now the government is trying to say a third force is trying to destabilise the government. But if they were really in control this would not have happened.

Q: Can order be restored?

A: People have lost confidence in the government. It will take time to get things back to normal. People don't want to come back here to Idi Araba -- ever. They say they have had enough.

Q: Whose side is the government on?

A: They can't be seen to take sides but the government is dominated by people from the south. President Olusegun Obasanjo is a Yoruba.

Q: Will the violence have political repercussions?

A: There has been ethnic violence going on here ever since the current government came to power in 1999. More than 10,000 people have died in ethnic clashes in the past three years. There is no end to it in sight but people just tend to forget about it.

Q: Is there anything the international community can do to help?

A: Well, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is here on Wednesday for a day. He then goes on to Sierra Leone. So I am sure he will be asked about it.

So far the government wants to seem in control so it has not asked any outside agencies for help.

There has been no appeal. But the government should be grateful for any help they get.

Q: What do the people themselves think?

A: Both Hausa and Yorubas think the same. People are so demoralised with the government that they say they preferred the days of military government prior to 1999. They say things were under control then. They say democracy has done more harm to the country than good.