Zonkwa (Nigeria), April 23: Soldiers wore surgical masks against the smell as workers loaded corpses onto a truck, with hundreds reported killed in postelection violence in this town alone.
Fearful of stoking more violence, authorities have been reluctant to release a nationwide death toll after the victory of the incumbent president, a Christian, in Saturday’s election caused a wave of killings and arson attacks across the country’s mostly Muslim north.
An Associated Press tour of rural Kaduna state with military leaders Thursday showed a level of bloodshed beyond what federal authorities have acknowledged.
A local imam and a soldier in Zonkwa estimated hundreds had been killed in the town alone since Monday.
Bodies were left to rot in the sweltering heat. Residents fled the town, their belongings piled on wheelbarrows.
-Agencies