Lagos - President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria yesterday issued shoot-onsight orders to police in Lagos following a riot in which at least 27 people were killed.
Rioting started between ethnic Hausas and militant Yorubas from the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) in the Ketu suburb and continued after paramilitary police intervened to separate them.
Mr Obasanjo said 27 bodies had been found and warned that suspected rioters would be shot on sight if they did not give themselves up. "We cannot allow this country to be overtaken by hoodlums and criminals. . . When people decide to behave like animals then they must be treated like animals," Mr Obasanjo said on state television.
Residents said the immediate cause of the rioting was a tussle for control over the Mile 12 market.