To start with, it is

To start with, it is pretty irresponsible of a paper to print an article that postulates what a leading religious figure would or would not approve. It is doubly so in a country like Nigeria. Even so, people should not have died over this.

LAGOS (Reuters) – The death toll in Nigerian ethnic violence sparked by the Miss World (news – web sites) beauty pageant has risen to 175 from 105 on Friday morning, the President of the Nigerian Red Cross said on Sunday.

Emmanuel Ijewere said that violence continued on Sunday, despite a decision on Saturday to move the finale of the pageant from the Nigerian capital Abuja to London.

“The papers are reporting 200 dead, but our estimate would be slightly less than that. We are talking of about 175,” said Ijewere.

About 12,000 people have so far been made homeless and the number of injured in hospital is between 1,100 and 1,200, he said.

The violence began on Wednesday when Muslims reacted angrily to comments on the Miss World beauty pageant in a national newspaper.