2006年VOA标准英语-Land Feud Ignites Fighting in Nigeria
时间：2019-01-30 作者：英语课 分类：2006年VOA标准英语（四月）
By Gilbert da Costa
Abuja
14 April 2006
Security forces in Nigeria are battling to control three days of clashes in the central Plateau State, which have left at least 25 people dead. Hundreds of people have fled their homes.
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More paramilitary police and soldiers were sent Friday to the central state of Plateau. This follows three days of fighting involving the Pan and Gomai people over land ownership in the town of Namu.
State authorities have ordered a nighttime curfew, and authorized 1 security forces to shoot members of ethnic 2 militias 3 allegedly behind the violence, in a desperate bid to stop the fighting from spreading.
State-owned radio has reported at least 10 deaths but other reports suggest the death toll 4 might be much higher. A resident of the state capital, Jos, who spoke 5 to VOA Friday, described the clashes as very, very serious.
Tension has been rising in the area, with the creation of local administrative 6 units by the state government.
Maxi Okwu, an Abuja-based civil rights activist 7, says the latest clashes reflect the volatility 8 of the region.
"Plateau seems to have been regularly in the news on this community strife 9, and if you know the composition of Plateau, it is like a place that has the highest concentration of nationalities and ethnic groups -- small, small communities that are very insular 10 and very protective of their identity," he said. "Added to this, in the Plateau area, is the settler problem, where persons who are not indigenous 11 to the area have become quite entrenched 12. So, the slightest provocation 13 leads to bloodletting and tensions all over the place. So, Plateau is very, very volatile 14."
Nigeria has more than 300 ethnic groups, which often find themselves in violent disputes over control of land and resources.
Okwu says the desperate economic situation, particularly among rural Nigerians, is the trigger for the raging violence.
Nigeria's president, Olusegun Obasanjo
"Nigerians are on a short fuse," he added. "There is so much angst in the land, so much disenchantment, failure of delivery of democracy dividends 15. So, at the slightest provocation, people just explode."
In May 2004, President Olusegun Obasanjo declared a state of emergency in Plateau, following the death of hundreds of people in months of ethno-religious violence in a part of the state.
More than 10,000 people have died in violence since the end of brutal 16 military rule in 1999. Some three million people have been left homeless.
- An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。
- This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
- The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。
- The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
- The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网
- The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
- The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。
- They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
- The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
- The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
- He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。
- He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
- He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。
- That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
- Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。
- We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
- Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。
- A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
- Having lived in one place all his life,his views are insular.他一辈子住在一个地方，所以思想狭隘。
- Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
- Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。
- Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
- If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。
- He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation.他是火爆性子，一点就着。
- They did not react to this provocation.他们对这一挑衅未作反应。
- With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
- His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。
- Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
- Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。