Nigerian religious riots leave hundreds dead

Christian Century, Oct 17, 2001

The ethno-religious conflict in Nigeria between Christians and Muslims claimed hundreds of lives in September, principally in Jos, a city in central Nigeria. Burnt-down houses and churches and torched cars still lined the streets even as soldiers were called upon to quell skirmishes on September 28.

"Reports reaching me have indicated that about 300 lives have been lost," Joshua Dariye, governor of the state of Plateau, said in an interview. "We are hoping that at the close of investigations into the crisis we shall be able to say precisely what is the actual casualty figure in this sad incident."

Property and even human beings were randomly set on fire and shops looted during the violence, which occurred September 7-17. The number of dead brought in to three major city hospitals suggested that government casualty figures would have to be adjusted upwards, perhaps by hundreds. Mortuary attendants at Jos University Teaching Hospital and at Plateau State Specialist Hospital said that because of the number of bodies involved, mass burial had to be arranged.

A number of churches and mosques were destroyed in the riots. Three church buildings of the Church of Christ in Nigeria were set afire. The Assemblies of God lost its main cathedral, and the Jos Apostolic Church was razed. Ademola Ishola, general secretary of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, said her denomination had lost three church buildings in the riots.

Ethnic tension had been running high weeks before the riots started over the appointment of a Muslim politician, Alhaji Muktar Mohammed, as local coordinator of the federal poverty alleviation program. Christians were disturbed by political policies that they claimed deprived them of religious freedom. They viewed Mohammed's appointment in a predominantly Christian community as an attempt to dominate them politically and religiously.

However, the spark that set off the Jos conflict, church leaders said, came from the Muslim practice of barricading roads on Fridays, which, they said, created difficulties for non-Muslims. On September 7 a Christian woman attempted to cross a barricaded street, which led to a scuffle between her and a group of Muslims, church leaders said. The fight spread to other parts of the city, where Christians were spontaneously attacked by Muslims, according to church leaders.

Nigeria's president, Olusegun Obasanjo, lamented the violence between Muslims and Christians. "We are not only citizens of one nation but also children of one God," Obasanjo said during a visit to Jos to assess the extent of the destruction. "Though tribe and tongue may differ, though religions may differ, in brotherhood we stand. Christians are as indispensable to Muslims as Muslims are to Christians," said the president, urging residents to resolve differences without resorting to violence.

That was also the message of the cochairpersons of Nigeria's Interreligious Council set up by the federal government to encourage religious harmony.

Sunday Mbang, prelate of Nigeria's Methodist Church and president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, said that all right-thinking people should "rise in condemnation of the barbaric act and senseless killings of innocent souls in the name of religion." CAN is the nation's leading ecumenical body. Also, Alhaji Muhammadu Maccido, the sultan of Sokoto and the spiritual head of Nigerian Muslims, decried the abuse of religion in the resort to violence. "No religion will support violence, harassment, victimization and all vices, let alone murdering of innocent people," the sultan said.--ENI