Religious killings continue unabated

Lagos--More than 10,000 displaced victims of the reprisal violence in Onitsha, Anambra state are still holed up at the 302 Artillery Regiment in the town where they had fled to take refuge under the protection of soldiers. Most of them, Muslim from the north, had their houses and wares burnt while several others were killed by the rioters retaliating the killing of fellow Igbos in Maiduguri and Bauchi. According to investigations, the victims of the riots are surviving on relief provided by both the Anambra state and federal governments.
Since 1980 to date, many religious riots and ethnic violence depicting hatred have been recorded. Among them are: Kafanchan students (religious) riot of 1987; Kano religious disturbance of 1991; Tafawa Belewa crises of 1991, 1995 and 2001; Zango-Kataf/Zaria religious or ethnic crisis of 1992; Kaduna religious riots of 1999 and 2000; Taraba (Jukun)/Hausa-Fulani/Benue (Tiv) ethnic crises of various dimensions in 1999; Gboko (Benue) civil disturbance of 2000; Jos religious crisis of 2001 and Lagos ethnic disturbance of 1999.
Though analysts say reasons for the last crisis were beyond religion, the question now is whether enough has been done by government and religious leaders to put a permanent stop to the violence, which has often threatened the fragile peace of the West African country in the last 25 years.Hoodlums and fundamentalists who were usually arrested during such riots were most often let off the hooks or have subsequently had the sentences handed down on them at tribunals reduced because of the influence of some powerful political and religious leaders. Reports of panels of inquiry set up to unravel the causes and recommend ways to avert them in future never saw the light of day.
The analysts are of the view that the country may not have seen the last of religious violence considering the handling of past crises by government and several unresolved issues bordering on intolerance among adherents of the various religions as well as among ethnic groups in the country, fuelled mainly by poverty, illiteracy and high rate of unemployment. Nigeria has more than 250 recognised ethnic nationalities, all demanding for improvement for their sections.
President of the Rivers State chapter of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Pastor Eugene Ogu noted that the levity with which the government handled the previous attacks on Christians in Bauchi and Kano had emboldened the Islamic fundamentalists to launch the latest onslaught on Christians over the cartooning of Prophet Mohammad and accused Nigerian leaders of insensitivity to the plight of the less privileged who were being openly burnt alive in the name of religion.
''Islamic fundamentalists had been killing Christians without any justification while the federal government did little or nothing to apprehend and punish the offenders to serve as a deterrent to others. That is what is responsible for the latest attacks,'' says Ogu in a comment on the February crisis in Maiduguri and Bauchi.
According to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) - the umbrella body for all Christians - more than 50 Christians were killed in the attacks while over 40 churches were destroyed in Maiduguri. One person was confirmed dead while several others were injured in Katsina where a similar riot to protest the cartoon and the public hearing of the constitutional review panel in the city was scheduled.
CAN believes the causes of religious unrest and the continued activities of religious extremists in northern Nigeria, could be linked to an alleged ''Jihad'' (Holy war) by Muslims to Islamise the country. The body in a two page statement in reaction to the latest crisis, signed by its chairman, Most Reverend Peter Akinola, said: ''It is no longer a hidden fact that a long standing agenda to make Nigeria an Islamic nation is being surreptitiously pursued. The willingness of Muslim youths to descend with violence on innocent Christians from time to time is from all intents and purposes a design to actualise their dream''.
But the leader of the Hausa communities in Southern Nigeria, Alhaji Mohammad Sani argues that the violence in parts of the country was politically motivated. ''The third term bid by our present political office holders is the primary cause of the strife,'' he said. Mohammad alleged that while some influential persons use hoodlums to perpetrate the killings, burning and looting in the north, the same self-seeking politicians used members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) to cause trouble in the Southeast.
MASSOB is the ethnic militia in Southeastern Nigeria agitating for a sovereign state based on what it called the marginalisation of Igbos since the civil war 1967-70. Its leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike arrested in August 2005, is still in detention charged with allegedly belonging to or running an unlawful society and threatening to take up arms against the government of Nigeria.
But Alhaji Liman Galtima, a political analyst from Maiduguri, blamed the crisis involving Muslims world-wide on efforts by the West to take control of the oil and gas business especially in the Middle East, which is currently being controlled by Muslims. Blaming corrupt officials in Nigeria, Galtima explained: ''The fundamental issue of hunger and poverty is so great here in Nigeria. Few people have stolen huge sums of public fund and the same people use the money to oppress the citizens while the government cannot do much to fight the oppressors, so the oppressed would react negatively. Whoever has a different pattern of living or life style from the impoverished masses, are perceived as oppressors and are at risk whether northern Christian or Southern Christian or Muslim''.
Reverend Martins Iwuanyawu, Chairman of Leadership Watch, a Lagos-based non governmental organisation, is also in agreement the killings were not targeted at any ethnic group or Christians per se, but at perceived rich people who the hoodlums regard as oppressors. ''The Igbo man is like a Jew, he is everywhere, he is enterprising and he develops his business anywhere he is and becomes rich as a trader. These are the people that are attacked by the Muslim youths who regard them as oppressors, though they are not politicians and have not stolen public funds, but because they live well, they are regarded as the oppressors,'' Iwuanyawu said in an interview in Lagos.

Chief Missioner, Quareeb Islamic Society, Sheik Abdul Rahaman Damgba, blamed the use of youths in the north for fomenting trouble, on hunger and oppression in Nigeria rather than on religion and ethnicity. ''There was a peaceful protest in Lagos and nobody was killed (because of high level of enlightenment). The whole thing is political and social. There is oppression in the land not just in Nigeria alone but the world over. If the people being used to foment trouble are better educated, they cannot be manipulated for selfish interests by anybody''.

As a way to put a permanent stop to religious and ethnic violence in the country, analysts want government at all levels to show in practical terms that the country belongs to all while also calling on the federal government to implement recommendations of reports of panels of inquiry set up after each crisis. ''Each time we have this sort of situation the government sets up a commission of inquiry, years after nothing is heard of the report or done about the recommendations. The problem will continue unless government wakes up to its responsibilities,'' Iwuanyawu said.

On its part, CAN wants appropriate punishment meted out to persons involved in violence and killing of fellow citizens in the name of religion. ''Government must fish out those responsible for fueling the crisis in Nigeria. Government should give security real attention it deserves. It should preempt and prevent crises not react to them after they have taken place,''.