Further violence has broken out in the northern city of Kaduna, the scene of the worst trouble.
More casualties have been reported, and eyewitnesses say security forces have been shooting to try to control a large crowd of demonstrators.
This decision was taken after careful consideration of all the issues involved and in the overall interests of Nigeria and the contestants |
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Miss World organisers |
Contestants, who have been attending preliminary events in largely Christian areas in southern Nigeria, are expected to fly out of the country on Saturday.
The organisers' decision to pull out came hours after the violent protests spread to Abuja itself, where hundreds of Muslim youths went on the rampage after Friday prayers.
Police later regained control of the streets
The protests began in Kaduna on Wednesday after a newspaper suggested that the Prophet Mohammed would have probably chosen to marry one of the Miss World contestants if he had witnessed the beauty pageant.
'Serious confrontations'
Isolated clashes continued into the night in Kaduna on Friday and violence erupted again on Saturday.
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Churches in Kaduna were among buildings attacked |
More than 1,000 people have taken refuge in a local brewery compound guarded by soldiers.
A photographer for the French news agency AFP told the BBC he had had to flee for his life amid battles between soldiers and demonstrators.
He said he had seen several dead bodies on the streets and that the situation looked very serious indeed.
In a statement late on Friday night, the pageant organisers said the decision to change the venue was in the "overall interests of Nigeria and the contestants".
Pageant publicist Stella Din added: "The show definitely will go on."
Hours earlier, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo went on television along with religious leaders to appeal for national calm, blaming a media report, not the contest itself, for the violence.
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"It could happen at any time irresponsible journalism is committed against Islam," he said.
The Nigerian Government has assured Muslims that those responsible for the article, which appeared in ThisDay newspaper, would be brought to account.
ThisDay has retracted it and has published apologies.
Christians targeted
Police in Abuja made 27 arrests on Friday and at least one policeman was injured during the unrest, along with an unknown number of demonstrators or civilians.
BBC correspondent Haruna Bahago reports that protesters armed with sticks, daggers and knives set fire to vehicles and attacked anyone they suspected of being Christian.
Many people suffered either knife wounds or beatings as the rioters advanced on Abuja's central market.
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Contestants have been attending preliminary events in the south |
Our correspondent was himself surrounded by a group of angry Muslim radicals, who suspected he was Christian, and he had to shout "Allahu Akbar" (God is great) until they let him go.
The clashes in Kaduna - one of the most volatile cities in Nigeria - have so far left more than 100 people dead and 500 injured, according to Red Cross officials.
Buildings and cars were also set alight and four churches were reported to have been destroyed. Burnt-out car tyres litter the streets.
Thousands of people have been displaced.
Police and soldiers were deployed in large numbers to try to contain the violence, and a curfew was imposed.
Two years ago the city saw more than 2,000 deaths in clashes between Christians and Muslims.
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