Houses got burnt while some lives were lost during a religious conflict in Kasuwan Magani community, Kajuru local government area of Kaduna state, on Thursday evening.

A resident of the area narrated what led to the violence via telephone with the press.

He explained that a young man, who was caught stealing in the market, was being beaten when some youths belonging to the same religious group with the suspected thief, rose in his defence and started attacking those were beating him.

“What happened was that somebody was caught stealing in the market and he was being beaten, then suddenly some youths (belonging to his faith) started attacking those who were beating the thief,” he said.

“The whole thing turned to a religious fight between Muslims and Christians. They started using dangerous weapons to attack each other and setting houses ablaze.

“A number of people were also killed. Security personnel have been deployed and the situation is under control.”

The Kaduna state government has imposed a 24-hour curfew on the community.

In a statement, Samuel Aruwan, media aide of Nasir el-Rufai, the governor, said the action was taken to prevent further break down of law and order.

A similar incident had occurred in February when Christian and Muslim youth in the community fought following the alleged abduction and conversion of some Christian girls.

At least 15 people were killed during that incident while property worth millions of naira was destroyed.