Violence leaves 100 dead in Nigeria

KADUNA, Nigeria — Violence between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria has claimed an additional 100 victims as the government tries desperately to restore a sense of calm to the northern city of Kaduna. More than 2,000 people have died in clashes between Christians and Muslims since the beginning of the year. The violence stems from plans to institute Islamic Sharia laws by the Muslim majority on the Christian minority.

The Sharia laws would set up Islamic courts in the northern part of Africa’s most populous nation. Christians say the laws would treat them as second-class citizens and subject them to barbaric and inhumane punishments. In the latest outbreak of violence, police imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Kaduna after 100 people were killed May 23.