In Jos, some Muslim youths returning from the prayer ground, attacked Christians who were on their way to attend church service.
They smashed cars parked in some of the worship places at Farin-Gada area of the Plateau State capital.
Eyewitness account said the youths, packed in trailers, were returning from their prayer ground with stones and other dangerous weapons which they brandished as they chanted war songs.
The timely intervention of security personnel contained the situation from escalating as youths from the area predominantly occupied by Christians attempted to retaliate the attack. But security men shot into the air to scare away the youths from the major road.
Plateau police spokesman Danjuma Azikiti in a statement said “it is disheartening to note that in spite of series of parleys with religious leaders and youths and the stern warning issued on the use of abusive and provocative language and carrying of dangerous weapons, some misguided youths still went ahead to foment trouble on the day of celebration.”
The statement condemned the act and described the situation as unfortunate. It added that no life was lost and no church or mosque was torched
Services were held at the various churches with good turnout of worshipers and the Muslim faithful were seen going about their visits without any incident.
There was heavy security presence at the various Eid praying grounds within Kaduna metropolis and environ yesterday as Muslims observed the Eid –el Fitri celebration to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
There was heavy traffic build up in the early hours of the day throughout the city as there were check points around the city. Christians also attended their usual Sunday services.
At the Sultan Bello Eid ground in the Anguwar Sariki area of the metropolis, vehicles were not allowed to park near the ground while all roads leading to the place were blocked . Worshipers forced to park their vehicles far away and trek to the praying ground.
One of the worshipers and Chairman of the Kaduna state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Mallam Yusuf Idris, said the security arrangement was excellent, noting that it inspired confidence in people.
He said: “all the roads leading to the mosque were blocked and vehicles were not allowed anywhere close to the mosque. I think this is a very excellent security arrangement and the security agencies must be commended. Everything went peacefully and we really thank God for that”.
There was also heavy security presence at the Murtala Square where the Eid –el Fitri prayers were also held. But at the Praying Ground, near the Kaduna Capital School in Malali area of the metropolis, there were no security presence except the one put in place by worshippers.
At the Sheikh Muhmud Gummi College Praying ground in the Tudun Wada area of the metropolis, there was also no security presence at the mosque, although prayers were conducted peacefully.
The Nation gathered that due to the security arrangement, the security agencies were over stretched as they had to provide security to both mosques and churches at the same time.
Security sources said being a Sunday, it was not possible to provide security to all places of worship because of the problems of manpower and logistics.
“What we did was to identify the danger-prone areas and deployed our men there because Kaduna is not a small city. There are also other major towns in the state and so we had to evolve strategies to beef up security at mosques and churches. It was hectic because we overstretched our men, but we thank God that everything was peaceful” he said.
http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/news/58389-bloody-sallah-averted-in-jos.html
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