VOA常速英语2007年-Six Killed in Nigeria Political Clashes

By Naomi Schwarz
Dakar
19 November 2007

Fires still smoldered¹ Monday in Kano, in northern Nigeria, after a day of political violence during which police said six people were killed. Youth from rival political parties clashed after accusations² of vote rigging in a local council election. Naomi Schwarz has more from VOA's regional bureau in Dakar.

Nigeria's populous³ northern state, Kano, was tense Monday. Local journalist Aminu Abubakar says violence over election results on Sunday has ended, but the damage is still evident

"Just a few yards from where I am talking to you now, there is a government building that is still smoldering⁴ from last night's arson⁵. The building has been completely razed⁶ by fire that was set by some enraged⁷ political supporters," he said.

Local elections were held in Kano on Saturday. As preliminary results began to be announced on the radio, Abubakar says some members of the People's Democratic Party, the PDP, felt they had been shortchanged.

The PDP is the ruling national party but is in the opposition⁸ in Kano state.

"Youth that are believed to be supporters of the opposition party, went on a rampage, erecting⁹ barricades¹⁰, bonfires on the roads, burning government vehicles and also buildings as well as causing harm to other rival supporters," he added.

Kano Police Spokesman Baba Mohamed says hundreds of people were arrested.

"They are various charges depending on the offense¹¹ they committed. Some of them were found to have committed electoral offenses¹², some of them were found to have been in possession of dangerous weapons, knives, and the rest of it, there are various offenses that they will be charged in court for," Mohamed said.

Mohamed says the police called in reinforcements from neighboring Nigerian states to help contain the violence. And he says they have taken measures to ensure the peace as results continue to be announced.

"Policemen are on patrol and they are placed in strategic positions to ensure that there is no further breakdown¹³ of law and order," he continued.

He says police have appealed to the public to use the courts to contest any election results and not to take matters into their own hands.

Nigeria has only been under civilian¹⁴ rule since 1999, when more than three decades of almost continuous military dictatorship ended.

Experts say election violence and cheating is common. International observers condemned¹⁵ presidential, legislative¹⁶ and gubernatorial elections earlier this year as marred¹⁷ by violence and fraud.

The new president Umaru Mussa Yar'Adua has promised electoral reform.

1 smoldered   

v.用文火焖烧，熏烧，慢燃( smolder的过去式 )

参考例句：

• The conflict that smoldered between Aunt Addie and me flared openly. 艾迪小姨和我之间闷在心里的冲突突然公开化了。 来自辞典例句
• After the surrender, an ever-present feud over the horse smoldered between Scarlett and Suellen. 投降以后，思嘉和苏伦之间一直存在的关于那骑马的急论眼看就要爆发了。 来自飘（部分）

2 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

3 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

4 smoldering   

v.用文火焖烧，熏烧，慢燃( smolder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mat was smoldering where the burning log had fallen. 燃烧的木棒落下的地方垫子慢慢燃烧起来。 来自辞典例句
• The wood was smoldering in the fireplace. 木柴在壁炉中闷烧。 来自辞典例句

5 arson   

n.纵火，放火

参考例句：

• He was serving a ten spot for arson.他因纵火罪在服十年徒刑。
• He was arraigned on a charge of arson.他因被指控犯纵火罪而被传讯。

6 razed   

v.彻底摧毁，将…夷为平地( raze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The village was razed to the ground . 这座村庄被夷为平地。
• Many villages were razed to the ground. 许多村子被夷为平地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 enraged   

使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤

参考例句：

• I was enraged to find they had disobeyed my orders. 发现他们违抗了我的命令，我极为恼火。
• The judge was enraged and stroke the table for several times. 大法官被气得连连拍案。

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 erecting   

v.使直立，竖起( erect的现在分词 )；建立

参考例句：

• Nations can restrict their foreign trade by erecting barriers to exports as well as imports. 象设置进口壁垒那样，各国可以通过设置出口壁垒来限制对外贸易。 来自辞典例句
• Could you tell me the specific lift-slab procedure for erecting buildings? 能否告之用升板法安装楼房的具体程序？ 来自互联网

10 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

11 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

12 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

13 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

14 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

15 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

16 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

17 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。