20110418
reuters

KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) - Security forces deployed on the streets of Nigeria's northern cities on Monday to try to contain protests by youths angered at results showing President Goodluck Jonathan won this weekend's presidential election.

Votes counted from all but one of Nigeria's 36 states showed Jonathan, the president from the southern oil-producing Niger Delta, had beaten Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler from the Muslim north, in the first round.

Observers have called the poll the fairest in decades in Africa's most populous nation but Buhari's supporters accuse the ruling party of rigging. Results show how politically polarised the country is, with Buhari sweeping states in the Muslim north and Jonathan winning the largely Christian south.

Plumes of smoke rose into the air in parts of the northern city of Kaduna as protesters set fire to barricades of tyres. Groups of youths shouted "We want Buhari, we want Buhari".

Soldiers used whips to disperse people gathering in the streets of Kano, the most populous city in the north. A Reuters reporter heard gunfire in one neighbourhood and protesters hurled rocks in the dusty backstreets.

"Supporters of Buhari are creating havoc. There are Buhari strongholds where there is a riot. We're just trying to get away but the police are whipping people," said a local trader who gave his name as Ikechukwu, as people ran down a main street.

Fuel stations, shops and market stalls shut down.

An armoured personnel carrier, armed police and soldiers formed a barricade around the electoral commission office.