: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.