Security alert as Nigeria anger rises

Anger mounted in Nigeria yesterday and the military government deployed police to tighten security nationwide after a court blocked results of the first presidential election in a decade, Reuter reports from Lagos.

In an attempt to avert another extension of military rule, the rival civilian parties in last Saturday's election tried to forge a common front to keep President Ibrahim Babangida to his promise to hand over power on 27 August. The government boosted security in potential trouble spots in a country whose political development has been hampered by ethnic and sectarian rivalries. Armed police stepped up patrols in some state capitals and bolstered security at strategic installations. Police began to fan out late on Wednesday after the government's electoral commission obeyed a court order to halt the release of election results.