|PIC1|Leaders from the Muslim and Christian community in Nigeria have called on protesting groups to refrain from engaging in violence against one another.

The calls follows over a week of tit-for-tat clashes and attacks that have now left more than 150 people, and churches mosques across the country destroyed by rampaging mobs.

The Bishop of Lokoja Catholic Diocese, Rev. Martin Olorunmolu, called on Nigerians to embrace dialogue to resolve any differences, reports Nigerian newspaper the Daily Trust.

Speaking to reporters in Abuja, Rev. Olorunmolu said that the recent violence in the country triggered by controversial caricatures was most unfortunate. He added that there was no good reasons to unleash mayhem on the nation.

Pope Benedict condemned the religious violence in Nigeria, as well as in Iraq, on Sunday, saying that God would punish those who killed in his name.

During his weekly Angelus blessing to hundreds of pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square, the Pope said: “The fruits of faith in God are not devastating antagonism, but a spirit of fraternity and co-operation for the common good.”

|AD|“God, the Creator and Father of all, will demand an even more serious reckoning from those who shed the blood of a brother in his name.”

The sectarian violence across major cities in Nigeria has seen churches burned by Muslim youths armed with machetes and clubs. Shops owned by mostly Christians have also been burned, according to resident Ibrahim Dagbugar in The Associated Press.

Experts have pointed out that although on the surface the violence appear to be religiously motivated, many of the past “Christian-Muslim clashes” in Nigeria were linked to ethnic, economic, and political conflicts with religious overtones.

Beside Potiskum in northeastern Yobe state, Kontagora in northern Niger state and Enugu, capital of southeastern Enugu state were also sites of violence on Friday.

In Kontagora, ten churches were burned and two people killed a resident told AP.

The mainly Christian southeastern city of Enuga witnessed at least one person killed by mobs that attacked ethnic Hausa Muslims.

According to AP, out of the 127 people killed this week in sectarian fighting in Nigeria, 80 died in the southeastern city of Onitsha.