Tears of the Sun

:01:21

Tension that had been brewing for
months in Nigeria exploded yesterday...

:01:25

...as exiled Gen. Mustafa Yakubu
orchestrated a swift and violent coup...

:01:29

...against the democratically elected
government of President Samuel Azuka.

:01:34

ln the land with 1 20 million people
and over 250 ethnic groups...

:01:38

... there'd been a long history
of ethnic enmity...

:01:41

...particularly between northern Fulani
Moslems and southern Christian lbo.

:01:46

The victorious Fulani rebels
have tak en to the streets...

:01:48

...as outbursts of violence
continue all over the country.

:01:52

Thousands have been killed in
the fighting or executed thereafter.

:01:57

Fearing ethnic cleansing, most lbo
have abandoned their homes...

:02:01

...and are fleeing the city or searching
for sanctuary wherever they may find it.

:02:05

Gen. Yakubu has tak en control
of most of the country...

:02:08

...and appears firmly in charge.

:02:10

There's no word on the United Nations'
reaction to the coup...

:02:13

...but United States forces have already
begun to evacuate its embassy.

:02:34

As you can see behind me,
on the USS Harry S. Truman...

:02:38

...activity is high as foreign nationals
are evacuated from all over Nigeria.

:02:43

This once peaceful country...

:02:45

...has been rocked by a series of ethnic
unrests and brief but bitter battles...

:02:49

...mainly over control
of Nigeria's vast oil supply.

:02:53

However, nothing can prepare
the country...

:02:55

...for the overwhelming and decisive
action that has just taken place.