At least four people were killed and dozens wounded when rival groups of Nigeria’s ruling party clashed at a campaign rally ahead of landmark elections in April, media reported on Sunday.
Saturday’s violence in a southwestern state was the latest in a string of incidents marring the build-up to polls that should mark the first transition from one elected government to another in the world’s eighth biggest oil exporter.
Armed supporters of Oyo state Governor Rasheed Ladoja and those of his estranged deputy Adebayo Alao-Akala clashed after the latter was confirmed as the gubernatorial candidate of the governing People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
PDP supporters from across southwestern Nigeria had gathered at the rally in the capital of the nearby state of Ondo.
“Trouble … started when, contrary to expectations of some people, the PDP flag in Oyo state was presented to Alao-Akala,” the independent Guardian newspaper said.
Police were not immediately available for comment.
In a separate incident, one person was killed in fighting between supporters of the main opposition All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) and the PDP during a National Assembly by-election in the southwestern Osun state, the Vanguard newspaper said.
In the April elections, Nigerians are due to elect a president, state governors and state and federal legislators.
Ladoja was impeached by a faction of the Oyo state house of assembly in January 2006 after a violent power struggle between the governor and his estranged patron, an ally of President Olusegun Obasanjo, who transferred his support to Alao-Akala.
He was reinstated in December after the Supreme Court ruled that his impeachment was illegal and unconstitutional.
Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999 after about 30 years of almost continuous military rule. But electoral violence remains a problem, with politicians hiring thugs to intimidate opponents and rig elections, civil society groups say.
The ruling party has been riven by internal conflict since primaries late last year that left many party tickets for powerful posts in dispute.