Nigerian unrest kills more than 200: rights group

KANO: Post-poll unrest in Nigeria has killed more than 200 people, a rights group said on Wednesday, as the Muslim opposition candidate who lost the election rejected the results but urged calm.

Aid workers rushed to help nearly 40,000 displaced, many of whom had taken refuge in military and police barracks, while victims being treated in hospitals spoke of being hacked with machetes and beaten with clubs.

Authorities say many were killed in the violence, which saw corpses burnt beyond recognition and bodies reportedly thrown into wells, but have refused to give a toll, saying it could spark reprisals and would be inaccurate.

A well-known Nigerian civil rights group based in the northern city of Kaduna put the toll at more than 200 across the north.

"In the whole region, from reports reaching Civil Rights Congress, the death toll is over 200," Shehu Sani, head of the organisation, told AFP. The numbers were compiled through his organisation's staff and associates. (AFP)