Bomb found in house in Nigerian flashpoint: police

A boy walks past one of the houses destroyed during the January 2010 sectarian violence in Jos

Authorities have found and defused a bomb in a house in central Nigeria, where clashes between Christians and Muslims have killed hundreds of people in recent months, police said Friday.

Experts defused the bomb after discovering it on Thursday in a house owned by a Muslim in Jos, the Nigerian city that has been a flashpoint for sectarian violence, said state police commissioner Ikechukwu Aduba.

While violence between Christians and Muslims occurs frequently in and around Jos, the use of explosives has been rare.

The owner was in the process of renovating the building, Aduba said, adding the bomb could have been "catastrophic" had it detonated. No arrests have been made.

He said the building "was about to be brought down with the use of explosives."

Jos is the capital of Plateau State, which lies in the so-called middle belt between the predominantly Muslim north and the mainly Christian south.

Last week, Muslims attacked a Christian village near Jos, killing eight people with machetes and burning seven houses and a church.

Local rights groups say 1,500 people have died in inter-communal violence in the Jos region since the start of this year alone.

Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, and its 150 million population is divided almost equally between Christians and Muslims.

Bomb found in house in Nigerian flashpoint: police

A boy walks past one of the houses destroyed during the January 2010 sectarian violence in Jos