By Taye Obateru
Jos: Tension continued to mount in Jos, the Plateau State capital yesterday, after last Monday’s mayhem which claimed 20 lives, 50 vehicles and 100 motorcycles as both Muslim and Christian youths mobilised against each other in different parts of the state capital.

This was in apparent reprisals for silent killings from both sides. Places like Dogon Karfe, Abattoir, and Massalanci Juma’at Road were enveloped by tension for hours in the morning as security men battled to prevent any clash.

A man and his wife were said to have been stabbed and killed by hoodlums around the railway crossing around Dogon Karfe a development which angered the local youths who mobilized for a reprisal. Word soon got to those in nearby Abattoir area who also trooped out in their numbers ready for a fight.

Security men had to fire warning shots into the air to disperse the rampaging youths when initial appeals failed. The commotion generated by the development resulted in serious traffic jam along the roads leading into and out of the area and this lasted for over three hours. However, calm later returned to the area.

A young man was rescued around Massalanci Juma’at Road after he was seized by hoodlums who were dragging him to a hideout allegedly to be killed which infuriated his kith and kin who mobilized for a clash. Again, it was the timely intervention of security men that saved the situation.

Vehicular and human movement along major streets remained scanty for most parts of the day following rumours of planned reprisal attacks. Nieghbourhood watch groups have also been resuscitated in many areas to forestall any attack.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Archbishop of Jos, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama has appealed to the warring groups to sheathe their swords and embrace dialogue. Kaigama who co-heads the inter-religious dialogue body in the state in a statement on Wednesday, described the outbreak of fresh violence as unfortunate stressing that violence would only beget more violence.

He said neither Christianity nor Islam endorsed killings, bloodshed and destruction of people’s hard earned means of livelihood because of religious differences.

“We have always affirmed that dialogue with one another is the best solution irrespective of the level of confrontation or provocation. Knives, bows and arrows, guns, explosives and bombs will never bring about the desired resolution; rather they only heighten mutual hatred which culminates in harvest of unfortunate deaths and misery” the statement said.

He said, the root causes of the incessant crisis due to religious differences must be identified and addressed while appealing to those promoting the violence to stop it in the interest of the common good.

Violence along Rukuba Road, Jos, Monday.