LAGOS, (Islamweb & Agencies) -Outbursts of violence in central and northern Nigeria which have left hundreds dead in recent weeks highlight the fragile state of Africa's most populous country, analysts said Friday.
With a population of more than 121.8 million, the crowded country is one of the most ethnically diverse on earth with more than 250 indigenous ethnic groups and also splits north and south on religious lines. (Read photo caption below)
Since the middle of June, many dozens of people have been killed and more than 50,000 people have fled their homes in the central state of Nasarawa following ethnic clashes, witnesses and aid workers say.
The most recent incident came Wednesday when 21 people were killed in the course of an attack on the village of Baure in the Awe local government area, medical sources said Friday.
Most of those killed were the attackers, the sources said,
Last weekend, the violence spread to Taraba State, where 20 were reported killed and another 25,000 reported to have fled their homes.
The conflict in Nasarawa and Taraba appeared to be mainly between people of the ethnic Tiv group, on the one hand, and a broad coalition of mainly Hausa-speaking ethnic groups on the other.
According to their own oral histories, and to most language experts, the Tiv originate from the eastern African highlands. Some suggest they come from the Bas-Congo region while others say they originate from what is now the Kwazulu region of South Africa, fleeing the 19th century Shaka Zulu wars.
Either way, they are believed to have migrated to central Nigeria over hundreds of years and have been in the region for many decades.
But nevertheless, clashes have occured sporadically for many years between the Tiv, viewed by other groups as "settlers", and the more indigenous groups of the area.
Political commentators here this week said little was being done to stop this happening more in future, as populations expand and competition for land increases.
At the same time, many dozens and possibly hundreds have been reported killed in Bauchi State, northern Nigeria, since June in fighting between ethnic-religious groups over the imposition of Islamic law in the state.
PHOTO (MAP) CAPTION:
After lurching from one military coup to another, Nigeria now has an elected leadership. But it faces the growing challenge of preventing Africa's most populous country from breaking apart along ethnic and religious lines. (BBC, country profile).