Libya killings: Nigeria steps up security at embassies

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Nigeria’s police chief on Wednesday ordered “24-hour water-tight security” at all foreign embassies and missions following attacks in Libya that killed the US ambassador to Tripoli and three others.

The Libyan mob was angered by a film that mocked Islam, making fun of the Prophet Mohammed and touching on themes of paedophilia and homosexuality.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has in recent years seen waves of religion-fuelled violence. Radical Islamist group Boko Haram is blamed for the deaths of more than 1,400 people since 2010, while sectarian clashes between Muslim and Christian communities have killed thousands more.

Explaining the “red alert” issued on Wednesday, police spokesman Frank Mba said the violence in Libya “easily could ricochet in other parts of the world.”

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Police chief Mohammed Abubakar has ordered “a 24-hour water-tight security in and around all embassies and foreign missions in Nigeria as well as other vulnerable targets,” a police statement said.

The move follows the “recent violent demonstrations in some parts of the world linked to a recent US film believed to have offended a section of some religious faithful,” the statement explained.

Roughly half of Nigeria’s 160 million people are Muslim, most of whom live in the country’s northern half.

Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed when a mob angry over the American-made amateur film stormed the US consulate in Benghazi.

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