Post date: Apr 18, 2011 5:59:59 PM
Nigeria's army says it will defend the current democratic process in the country after violence erupts in the country's north in the wake of presidential elections.
KADUNA, NIGERIA (APRIL 18, 20110 CHANNELS TV - The Nigerian army said on Monday (April 18) that it will safeguard the current democratic process in the country and urged an end to the riots in the north of the country.
Rioting erupted across Nigeria's largely Muslim north as youths torched churches and homes in anger at
President Goodluck Jonathan's election victory. The Red Cross said many people were killed.The army said it would deal with rioters.
"Nigerian armed forces remain committed and totally loyal to government of the federal republic of Nigeria, and as such would not sit down and watch unpatriotic people take laws into their hands," said defence spokesman Colonel Mohammed Yerima.
"The military is solidly and fully committed to the protection of our democratic credentials and national security. We hereby call on senior citizens, parents, and guardians to advise their wards by obeying the law of the land, and to desist from any act of lawlessness forthwith. Once again the Armed forces of Nigeria is determine to support the current democratic processes in our dear . We wish all Nigeria a safe electioneering period," Colonel Yerima told journalists.
The vote count showed Jonathan, from the southern oil-producing Niger Delta, had beaten Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler from the north, in the first round.
Observers have called the poll the fairest in decades in Africa's most populous nation but Buhari's supporters accuse the ruling party of rigging and his Congress for Progressive Change Party rejected results announced so far.