A Little Too African

You may recall a post I wrote last month about my trip to Jos and how much I liked the town because it finally felt like Africa.  Well, it turns out, Jos may be too-much-Africa.

Many of you have called or emailed me because the recent violence in Jos has made international news.  Results of a state-level political election led to claims of rigging and violent outbursts, a repeat of the violence that occurred at the beginning of the decade.

Kyura had told me about the previous riots when she was giving me the tour of Jos.  The town is, she said, fairly segregated by religion.  The Muslims live in one area, the Christians in the other.  During my visit, she mentioned that there hadn't been any new violence, but, she added, the tension remained.

Sunday's newspaper reported the current death toll at 400.  The local government instituted a dusk to dawn curfew, which soon turned into a 24-hour curfew.  I got a hold of Kyura; she and her family are safe.  I don't know if she's been able to attend her classes.  She sent me this text message about the situation:

We're all ok, but it's very tense here.  Am glad ur not here.  It's scary and tiring.  Gun shots, machetes, spears and angry people everywhere.  Pls pray for us.