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Nigeria Arrests 164 Over Massacre


A Nigerian police spokesman says 164 people have been arrested for alleged involvement in violence near the town of Jos earlier this month that killed more than 200 people.

The spokesman said Sunday that 41 of those arrested will be charged with terrorism, which could result in life in prison.

The others, he said, will be charged with illegal possession of firearms, rioting and other offenses.

Witnesses to the March 7 violence said that ethnic Fulani herdsmen, who are mostly Muslim, attacked mainly Christian villages south of Jos, setting homes on fire and slashing people with knives and machetes.

The U.N. special investigator on freedom of religion has said the massacre could have been prevented had authorities addressed deep-seated tensions between Muslims and Christians.

Jos has a history of sectarian violence. The city sits on the dividing line between Nigeria's mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south.

Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.

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