Nigeria: Religious Violence Fueled by Impunity

Thanks, John Smith.

In the central region that lies between the mainly Muslim north and largely Christian south, armed Muslims on February 24, 2004 killed more than 75 Christians in the town of Yelwa, at least 48 of them inside a church compound. Then on May 2 and 3, hundreds of well-armed Christians surrounded the town from different directions and killed around 700 Muslims. They also abducted scores of women, some of whom were raped. Both attacks were well-organized, and in both instances, the victims were targeted on the basis of their religion.

At the heart of the conflict is the distinction between “indigenes” — people who consider themselves as the original inhabitants of an area — and those whom they view as “settlers.” The concept of “indigeneship” has been exploited and used to discriminate against those termed as “settlers.”

“The Nigerian government needs to remove the distinction between ‘indigenes’ and ‘settlers’,” said Takirambudde. “As long as this distinction is given official recognition, the potential for further conflict remains.”

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