NIGERIA should be divided into two nations to avoid further bloodshed between Muslims and Christians, Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, has said.

In a speech to students, he commended the example of India and Pakistan, where he said partition saved many lives.

Splitting Nigeria, according to Gaddafi, quoted by State News Agency, Jana, “would stop the bloodshed and burning of places of worship.”

Hundreds of people have died in communal violence in villages in Jos, the  Plateau State capital, this year.

Although the violence in area was believed to have occurred between Muslim and Christian communities, the underlying causes were a complex mix of political, social and economic grievances.

Colonel Gaddafi, who until recently was the head of the African Union, characterised the Jos violence as a “deep conflict of religious nature caused by the federal state, which was made and imposed by the British in spite of the people’s resistance to it.”

He described the partition of India as a “historic, radical solution,” which saved the lives of millions of Hindus and Muslims.

Meanwhile, The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC’s) Rana Jawad in Tripoli said Colonel Gaddafi’s suggestion was not surprising, given his past form, adding that “last year, he called for Switzerland to be abolished and for its land to be divided between Italy, Germany and France.”

Also, a senior Nigerian diplomat said he was not taking his suggestion seriously.