24 Are Killed in Nigeria as Violence Mars Voting

The ruling party of Nigeria made a strong showing in violence-marred elections Sunday, partial returns showed, but at least two dozen people were killed during the weekend balloting.

With 77 House of Representatives seats decided, President Olusegun Obasanjo’s party had won 49, electoral officials said. About 3,000 candidates are battling for 360 seats in the House and 109 in the Senate.

The legislative race is a key gauge of civil tensions a week before presidential elections. Military coups have scuttled Nigeria’s previous attempts to hold elections.

Fighting between tribal and political rivals disrupted the vote in Nigeria’s oil-producing south for a second day Sunday. At least two dozen people were killed in the voting and hundreds forced to flee their homes, witnesses and election monitors said.

The voting began Saturday but was extended to Sunday in several areas where the balloting was marred, particularly the Niger Delta.

The oil-rich region has been the scene of clashes in recent weeks between Ijaw militants and government troops over voting districts the Ijaws say favor their ethnic rivals, the Itsekiris.

More than 100 people have been killed in the recent violence, which has shut down 40% of the country’s oil production. Nigeria is the fifth-largest supplier of U.S. oil imports.

On Sunday, sustained automatic weapons fire delayed a second attempt to hold a vote in the oil port of Warri.