President Goodluck Jonathan said Thursday unrest after his election recalled the build-up to Nigeria's civil war, while the International Criminal Court's prosecutor said he would probe the violence.

Jonathan also pledged that next week's governors' polls would go on as planned, but the electoral commission announced later that the vote would be delayed by two days in two states -- Bauchi and Kaduna -- over security concerns.

Curfews and military patrols have largely restored calm after rioting broke out in northern Nigeria and quickly spread across the region, following southerner Jonathan's win over northerner Muhammadu Buhari at the weekend.

A Nigerian rights group says more than 200 people were killed, but authorities have refused to provide a death toll, fearing it could provoke reprisals. The number of displaced has risen to 60,000, the Red Cross says.

Concerns have been raised over the governorship and state assembly ballots scheduled for Tuesday amid fears of further outbreaks of violence in Africa's most populous nation.

Civil war

"If anything at all, these acts of mayhem are sad reminders of the events which plunged our country into 30 months of an unfortunate civil war," Jonathan said in a televised address to the nation.

More than a million people are estimated to have lost their lives during the 1967-70 conflict which came as eastern Nigeria tried to secede and establish the republic of Biafra.

Jonathan pledged that Tuesday's polls would go forward and that a judicial commission of inquiry into the unrest would be set up. Security had been reinforced across the country, he said.

He said "these disturbances are more than mere political protests. Clearly they aim to frustrate the remaining elections. This is not acceptable."

Jonathan said security services would deal "decisively" with any further unrest.

Major step forward

Despite the post-poll violence, observers have hailed the conduct of Saturday's presidential election as a major step forward in a country with a history of deeply flawed ballots, while noting that major problems remain.

Buhari, an ex-military ruler, has alleged rigging, but he has disassociated himself from the rioting.

ICC Prosecutor

The prosecutor's office of The Hague-based International Criminal Court, the world's only independent, permanent tribunal to try genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, said Thursday it will look into the post-poll violence in Nigeria.

"The office will seek to establish whether the recent violence may have been planned and organized and whether crimes falling within the courtGÇÖs jurisdiction may have been committed," it said in a statement.

Many of the displaced have sought refuge at police and military barracks.

Empty slogans

At one barracks in the main northern city of Kano, some 10,000 people were gathered, sleeping on the ground and gathering under trees where there was space. There were shortages of water and bathrooms.

The director of the country's emergency management agency, Mohammed Sani Sidi, addressed the crowd, but drew booing when he told them that "Nigeria is one country and it will remain so."
People in the crowd yelled that they were tired of empty slogans.

"Many of us have nowhere to call home anymore because our houses have been burnt and businesses destroyed, so where do we go to even if we want to go back?" said Enoch Uzor, a 37-year-old tailor.

Some analysts have said that the upcoming governorship elections could hold the most risk of violence. Governors wield significant power in Nigeria, granted huge budgets thanks to oil revenue.

Religious, ethnic and economic division

Nigeria's 150-million population is roughly divided between Muslims and Christians and includes some 250 ethnic groups. The north is mainly Muslim while the south is predominantly Christian.
The north has long been economically marginalised compared to the oil-rich south, fuelling resentment and divisions that last weekend's elections helped expose.

Authorities have however argued that the rioting was not based on religion or ethnicity but was instigated by those unhappy with the victory of Jonathan.

Jonathan was vice-president to northern Muslim Umaru Yar'Adua, succeeding him as president in May 2010 when he died before the end of his first term and prompting bitterness in sections of the north over its loss of power.

(AFP)