Several hundred Nigerian women take to the streets against recent killings in the middle belt

Nigerian women protest recent killings

JOS, Nigeria — Several hundred women dressed in long black dresses are marching in downtown Jos to protest the recent slaughter of more than 200 people including dozens of children in several mostly Christian villages nearby.

An Associated Press reporter saw the women Thursday waving Bibles and crosses made out of scrap lumber.

The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Nigerian Red Cross say that they are distributing food and water to nearly 5,000 people who have taken refuge in various police stations and to some 300 detainees.

Nearly 3,000 people have fled from Jos to camps in the neighboring state of Bauchi after the violence, ICRC says.

At least 200 people, most of them Christians, were slaughtered on Sunday in several villages near Jos, according to residents, aid groups and journalists.