The 2010 Jos riots were clashes between Muslim and Christian ethnic groups in central Nigeria in and near the city of Jos. Jos is the capital of Plateau State, in the middle of the divide between the predominantly Muslim north of Nigeria and the predominantly Christian south. Since 2001, the area has been plagued by violence motivated by multiple factors. The clashes have been characterised as "religious violence" by many news sources, although others cite ethnic and economic differences as the root of the violence.The first spate of violence of 2010 started on 17 January in Jos and spread to surrounding communities. Houses, churches, mosques and vehicles were set ablaze, during at least four days of fighting. At least 326 people, and possibly more than a thousand, were killed.Hundreds of people died in fresh clashes in March 2010. Many Christians were killed and dumped into wells.This is the third major incident of rioting in Jos within a ten year span. Some one thousand people were killed in riots in 2001, and at least 700 died in subsequent violence in 2008.