Mayhem in Northern Nigeria: Christian & Muslim Riots (370 hits)
On Sunday January 17, 2010, Nigerians awoke to the startling news that killings have resumed in Jos between Christian and Muslim mobs. As usual with these riots no one quite knows what ignites them. One report says that trouble began when a Muslim man whose home was destroyed in the riot of November 2008, decided to rebuild the house. It will appear that the man's house was ensconced in a Christian neighbourhood. He is accused of encroaching on other people's land and even wanting to convert the property into a mosque. Another version claims that the real cause of the riot was the unprovoked attack on Christian worshippers whilst the church was in session on Sunday morning, November 17, by a gang of Moslem youths who sacked the church and killed a worshipper. A third version blames the riot on a disputed football result.
Whatever may be the truth of these allegations, what is clear is that in the resulting mayhem the streets of Jos were littered with corpses. For three days, sectarian mobs armed with guns, bows and arrows, and machetes went on a killing spree, burning and looting houses, cars, and shops, as well as several churches and mosques. Such was the ferocity of the carnage that the authorities were obliged to impose a 24- hour curfew to contain the situation. In the aftermath, an estimated 500 persons have been killed, property running into billions of Naira have been destroyed and more than 5000 persons have been displaced. The number of fatalities may well increase as there are fresh reports from other parts of Plateau State indicating more killings.
Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan, ordered all the security forces to head to Plateau State with a single mandate to quell the rioting. He also threatened that the perpetrators of the violence will be punished. A tenuous peace is now holding as the city has been garrisoned by the Nigerian Army. But such is the grievous harm done to inter-communal relations that several state governments have begun evacuating their people from Jos.
In this country, ethnic and religious divisions run deep with Nigerian leaders failing to implement those provisions of the constitution that are designed to foster true federalism and national unity. Plateau State lies on a fault line between the Christian south and the Moslem north. Indigenous Beroms are pitched against so-called Hausa-Fulani settlers. This might explain why Plateau State tends to suffer more than other states from sectarian violence. There have been great disruptions to life and property in Plateau State in 2001, 2004, 2008 and now in 2010.
The government should take the issue of communal ethno-religious riots more seriously. If not properly handled, Nigerian unity can be threatened. It must demonstrate the will to seek solutions to ethno-religious conflicts that are just below the surface in many parts of the country. It should make active use of intelligence to nip future crisis in the bud. Above all, it should ensure an end to the reign of impunity by insisting that all those guilty of wanton destruction of life and property are severely punished.
We have in previous editorials called for a robust debate on citizenship and residency rights in the National Assembly but evidently our representatives are too busy with other matters. In the meantime more lives are being lost. The positioning for resources and political influence in the midst of poverty and corruption is often the catalyst for these so-called religious riots. In the case of Jos, the relationship between the indigenous population and the so-called settlers has gone sour but the situation is not irredeemable as both parties come from Christian and Moslem religions that preach peace and love.
The Jos riots could not have come at a worse time for Nigeria. With political and economic uncertainties occasioned by an absentee President { hospitalized in Saudi Arabia due to heart problems}, the misguided Nigerian youth on board an American plane on Christmas day, the blacklisting of Nigeria by the Obama administration - Nigeria is in the midst of adverse circumstances. To extricate ourselves from an unjust label of terrorism, we must hasten to remove Christian and Moslem clashes from our political agenda. It is now imperative for Nigerian leaders and religious organisations to rally to end permanently all religious riots in the country.
