According to the state police commissioner, skirmishes began after Muslim youths set a Catholic church, filled with worshippers, on fire.

[10] A local paper reported that attackers yelled "Allahu Akhbar" before burning down churches and homes.

[11] Other community leaders say it began with an argument over the rebuilding of a Muslim home in a predominantly Christian neighbourhood that had been destroyed in the November 2008 riots.

Armed mobs, mostly Christians from the Berom ethnic group, attacked Muslims, including Hausa-Fulani residents, killing or driving them out and burning their homes, mosques, and property.

[2] The worst massacre took place on 19 January in the settlement of Kuru Karama, where 174 people, including 36 women and 56 children, were killed.

[2] Satellite images released by Human Rights Watch show the near complete destruction of buildings in Kuru Karama.

[17] Vice-president Jonathan held executive authority at the time, as President Umaru Yar'Adua was in Saudi Arabia receiving medical treatment.

[citation needed] Before dawn on 7 March 2010, Muslim Hausa-Fulani herders massacred more than one hundred Christians in Dogo-Nahawa village near Jos.

"[27] Professor Kabiru Mato of the University of Abuja also played down the role of religion in the riots: "I don't see anything religious.

[30] The Catholic archbishop in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, referred to the violence as "a classic conflict between pastoralists and farmers, except that all the Fulani are Muslims and all the Berom are Christians.

"[11] However, this assertion is challenged by the fact that most ethnic groups in Plateau State, which are predominantly Christian, share the same sentiments with the Berom and collectively see an Islamic threat in their own lands.

[11] Pope Benedict XVI said the attacks were "atrocious" and "violence does not resolve conflicts but only increases the tragic consequences.

[2] The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project wrote to the International Criminal Court, asking them to investigate the riots for potential crimes against humanity.