About 200 people have been arrested and 49 charged with murder after massacres at three Christian villages at the weekend, police in Nigeria said yesterday.

The announcement came as more details emerged of the violent outburst in the central Plateau state whose capital, Jos, lies at the faultline between the country’s Muslim north and Christian south.

Up to 500 people were killed — estimates of the number of victims differ — and scores more have fled their homes since the attacks by Muslim gangs on the villages of Dogo Nahawa, Zot and Ratsat.

Survivors told how mobs armed with machetes were waiting for them as they fled their burning homes. The attackers asked people “who are you?” in Fulani, a language used mostly by Muslims, and killed those who did not respond in that language. Women and children bore the brunt of the three-hour killing spree in the early hours of Sunday.

A 20-year-old man who was among those arrested claimed that he had acted to avenge members of his family. Ikechukwu Aduba, the state’s police chief, claimed that some of the assailants had been paid to carry out the killings but declined to give details.

A local reporter at the scene told The Times that there was tension between police and residents who believe that ministers are not focusing on their plight because there is no one in charge at the top.

Thousands of Nigerians protested in the capital, Abuja, on Wednesday, demanding action from the Government on issues ranging from corruption to unemployment. Hundreds of women dressed in black also demonstrated in Jos carrying Bibles, wooden crosses or branches of mango trees.

The Nigerian police and military are dominated by Muslims and local Christian youths have reportedly taken security into their own hands, arming themselves with knives, homemade swords, machetes and makeshift bows and arrows and setting up barricades.

Jonah Jang, the state’s Governor, has blamed the military, which took control of security in January, for failing to respond to his warning that movements of armed men had been reported by villagers shortly before Sunday’s attacks. The local army commander denied he had been informed of any planned attack on the communities.

Foreign governments including the US and Britain, concerned about the influence of al-Qaeda in countries bordering the Sahara, and international rights groups have urged the authorities to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.

Goodluck Jonathan, the Acting President, has responded to domestic and international pressure by putting the security forces on high alert to try to prevent unrest from spreading to neighbouring states.

He has rarely been seen in public since he was given the top job after Umaru Yar’Adua, went for treatment at a clinic in Saudi Arabia. He returned after his Vice-President was told to take over temporarily but is in no fit state to return to power.

Analysts fear that the sectarian violence, which is not yet linked to the country’s broader political rivalries, will quickly deteriorate if there is a continuing absence of leadership.