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November 22, 2002
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Miss World article sparks off riots in Nigeria, 100 killed

Violent demonstrations, following a newspaper article about the Miss World pageant, claimed more than 100 lives and injured over 200 in the northern city of Kaduna, Nigeria.

An agency report, quoting a regional representative of the International Federation of the Red Cross, said 100 deaths have been confirmed.

The office of the newspaper, This Day, was also burnt along with four churches and several houses in the Nigerian town.

The article questions the Islamic groups' contention that the pageant promotes indecency and promiscuity. Miss World pageant will be held on December 7, in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

Hordes of young men descended on the city on Thursday and set ablaze barricades made of tyres and garbage. Educational institutions and shops downed their shutters soon as the news of the agitation spread.

Chants of 'down with beauty' and 'Miss World is sin' filled the air as soldiers and policemen tried to restore order. The police fired teargas shells on the protesters, who were seen waving tree branches. The government announced an overnight curfew in the area.

The pageant had previously come under fire when several participants refused to take part in the contest.

They were protesting the orders of Islamic courts to stone women to death, who conceive out of wedlock.

The Nigerian government, however, claims that these sentences will not be carried out.

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