Nigerian police struggle to disperse rioters in ethnic violence

LAGOS, Nigeria (Reuters) -- Paramilitary police fired in the air on Wednesday to disperse rioters in the main business district of Lagos, Nigeria's biggest city, as ethnic clashes that have claimed over 100 lives continued to spread.

Witnesses said the attackers appeared to be neighborhood gangs of unemployed youths known as Area Boys taking advantage of fighting between the Yoruba-based OPC militia and Muslim Hausa-Fulani immigrants from northern Nigeria.

Policemen on guard at the Central Bank joined a police patrol team to shoot in the air to scare away the rioters in the Idumota area of Lagos.

There were no immediate reports of casualties but shops, offices and some banks were hurriedly closed. The ever busy Broad Street was deserted.

One shop owner said: "Some people...were just throwing broken glasses and bottles to scare away the shop owners."

Authorities said more than 100 people had been killed in three days of fighting that erupted on Sunday, mainly in shanty towns ringing the metropolis of over 10 million people. Hundreds of Hausa-Fulanis have taken refuge in military barracks.

Senior military and police officers met on Wednesday to make arrangement for joint patrol teams to contain the unrest.

Troops have been drafted in to help overwhelmed police struggling to stem fighting that has left several areas of the sprawling city including the port area of Apapa littered with dead bodies and burnt-out cars and buses.

Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu met leaders of Nigeria's three main ethnic groups -- the Ibo, Hausa and Yoruba -- on Tuesday.

The groups signed a peace pact and called for an end to the violence, but their agreement appeared to have fallen apart.

Further clashes erupted on Wednesday, 40 km (25 miles) away in the Abule Egba district. Witnesses said one person had been killed but police could not confirm this.

Lagos police chief Mike Okiro said members of the militant Odua People's Congress (OPC) had moved into Abule Egba, where there is a substantial population of Hausa-Fulanis, and fighting ensued.

He said several people had been injured before police moved in to dislodge the rioters.

Large numbers of commuters have been left stranded as many commercial buses are off the road due to a fuel shortage. Fuel company sources said tanker drivers were refusing to pick up fuel from depots located in the heart of the battle areas.

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