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Summary At least 18 people have been killed in Nigeria in religious and ethnic fighting.
Eighteen people have been killed in central Nigeria, a region beset by religious and ethnic fighting, an official said.Pam Ayuba, an adviser to the governor of Plateau state, said the 18 were killed Sunday night and that 10 people were wounded, all near the city of Jos. He said the government is working to restore law and order.Plateau state police commissioner Emmanuel Dipo Ayeni confirmed the attacks but did not confirm the casualty figure.Nigeria, an oil-rich country of 150 million people, is split between Muslims in the north and the predominantly Christian south. Plateau state is in the middle belt, where dozens of ethnic groups vie for control of fertile lands and political and economic power.Also Sunday, two gunmen shot dead an Islamic cleric in Nigerias restive northeast.Joint Security Task Force spokesman Lt. Col. Hassan Mohammed said that the attack resembled other killings of religious leaders by the radical Muslim Boko Haram sect. Police were alerted about the attack, but the suspects fled before security officials had arrived, he said.Isa Mohammed, a student of the slain cleric, said he was visiting Mallam Dala at his house Sunday when two men burst in and shot Dala.
