Dozens die in Nigeria religious clash

MSNBC International Breaking News ^ | Sept. 8 , 2001 | ASSOCIATED PRESS

[rebdov]

Some witnesses said the fighting began when a Christian woman tried to cross a road filled with Muslims engaged in their Friday evening prayers.

OBASANJO APPEALED for peace in an emotional broadcast on state radio. Authorities imposed a dawn-to-dusk curfew to try to stem the bloodletting, which broke out Friday evening at the time of Muslim prayers.        Terrified residents said the fighting persisted unabated Saturday.        “Put us in your prayers!” said Mary Dung, a Christian resident of a neighborhood in southern Jos. By telephone, Dung described smoke rising from burning homes around the city 620 miles northeast of Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos.        Bands of Christian and Muslim young men were exchanging gunfire on her street, which she said had been split between Muslims on one side and Christians on the other. “One of my neighbors was shot in front of my face,” she said.        The immediate cause of the fighting was unclear, although religious tensions in the city had been rising after the recent appointment of a Muslim politician as chairman of a state poverty-alleviation committee.        Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation, with 120 million people and 250 ethnic groups. Southern Nigeria is predominantly Christian, and northern Nigeria is overwhelmingly Muslim. Northerners dominate Nigeria’s military, and wielded immense power during the 15 years of army rule, which ended in 1999 with Obasanjo’s election.        The introduction of Sharia, or Islamic law, in several northern states last year sparked bloody clashes between Christians and Muslims. Hundreds were killed. Jos, a hilltop city of 4 million people whose government leaders are mainly Christian, has rejected Sharia. FULL DEATH TOLL UNKNOWN        There was no word from overwhelmed local police on the death toll. Isa Abdulsalam, a Jos-based journalist with the Guardian, a daily newspaper, said he counted 10 bodies in one venture outside. Other residents said they saw dozens.        There were reports of looting of stores and restaurants. Major roads were blocked by youths armed with guns, machetes, clubs and other weapons, other witnesses said. The city’s hospitals were filling up with wounded, Abdulsalam said.        On state radio, Obasanjo implored religious and community leaders to help make “peace reign supreme in Jos.”        “I wonder what sort of Muslims and Christians start burning churches and mosques — places where God is worshiped,” Obasanjo said, calling the perpetrators “barbaric.”        An Assemblies of God and a Church of Christ were torched during the rampage Friday in the mostly Muslim middle-class neighborhood of Kwararafa, the Lagos newspaper ThisDay reported.        There were unconfirmed reports of a mosque burned in the Nassarawa neighborhood where both Christians and Muslims live. Muslim-Christian fighting was also taking place in the rugged, impoverished neighborhood of Congo-Russia        Some residents were taking refuge in police stations, while others hid inside homes and offices.        Zakar Davou, an accountant at Mountain Greens Hotel in Holwshe, a suburb of southern Jos, said he saw Christian youths Friday night setting up a makeshift roadblock, where they singled out suspected Muslims and burned their cars.        “Oh man, it is a terrible situation,” Davou said, adding that he was allowed to pass unhindered because he was Christian.        Some witnesses said the fighting began when a Christian woman tried to cross a road filled with Muslims engaged in their Friday evening prayers. An argument ensued, escalating into armed clashes between Muslim and Christian youths.        Jos State Deputy Gov. Michael Bomang imposed a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew Friday night to prevent further violence. Speaking on state radio and television, he called soldiers and police into the streets.        Susan Akele, a resident of the city’s Nassarawa district, said by telephone that she and her family were hiding inside their home, afraid to even go to their window.        “It just started raining — so I looked outside and saw three corpses lying in front of my house. This is hell.” © 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[rebdov]

Did the UN notice the anti-Christian riots in Nigeria? I suppose only non-Muslims can be guilty causing mayhem. Since Shaariya (Muslim daily rules of life) has been imposed, the Christians have had to get with the program or else die. The tolerance and respect for Christians in Nigeria does not seem to exist. The rest of the world doesn't seem to care either. As long as Israel can be singled out as the sole pariah nation, everyone can go home from their convention satisfied. Poor Christians, they should have been Jews, then at least the world would have noticed them even if they called them agressors.

[Travis McGee]

bttt

[IRtorqued]

the way the u.n. ignores what is going on in the Sudan you really can't expect them to do much here either.

[headsonpikes]

Indonesia is also heading down this sorry road.

Radical Islam is incompatible with Liberty.

[ppaul]

“Oh man, it is a terrible situation,” Davou said.....

Sure sounds like it.

[Lion Den Dan]

Ahh. Sweet love spreading in the name of religion.

[He Rides A White Horse]

Dozens die in Nigeria religious clash

Probably more accurately titled:

'Christians Defend Themselves From Those Who Would Murder Them'

[He Rides A White Horse]

The tolerance and respect for Christians in Nigeria does not seem to exist.

Same with America. They'll try the same with us here. You can count on it.

[river rat]

Oh, sweet diversity...
Strength from diversity
All cultures are equal
All cultures and religions should be respected
The gentle natives have been ruined by the uncivilized whites.
< /sarcasm>
Semper Fi

[rebdov]

Imagine if those rotten British colonials had never come there, people could only have been killed with spears and knives, now they use guns. It is all the British fault. Nigeria would have been a religious idyllic eden if not for mean caucasians.

[He Rides A White Horse]

Yes, and the leftists in this country are angry because we walked out of the UN conference on racism. To think that they would like to import this sort of thing speaks volumes.

[He Rides A White Horse]

Make no mistake about it, the leftist liberals in this country want nothing less than the extermination of Christians.

[He Rides A White Horse]

Oh, sweet diversity...

Leftists hate true diversity. They lie about everything.

[river rat]

Starting with the L.A. riots, compounded by the O.J. jury, insulted by Maxine Waters and her fellow travelers, angry over the lies and bullshit from Al Sharpton and the open extortion practiced by Jesse HiJackson, incredulous over the unabashed leftist racist Congressional Black Caucus - angry over affirmative action and disproportionate welfare and criminal statistics, followed by the hate preached by Louis Farakan, and NOW - this lunatic demand for reparations.

Folks - I have finally been radicalized --- I guess I'm at risk of becoming a certified racist..for I am truly pissed at ALL the "popular" black "leadership"..

Is this how the majority of America's blacks wish to be regarded or represented?
-----------------

This is exactly how societies are divided against each other...Balkanized....badgered into conflicts or wars that can last a thousand years.

Someone better learn how to say very clearly to some of these dangerous and hate mongering bastards - that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, Cool it!
Semper Fi

[He Rides A White Horse]

Is this how the majority of America's blacks wish to be regarded or represented?

I would hope not. Then again, the white limosine liberals in this country are just as guilty as the Jacksons, Maxine Waters, and Sharptons.

Ironically, these same people would cringe at the prospect of a black person living next door to them.

I think the battle lines are being drawn along the conservative vs liberal lines (or maybe pro-God vs pro-Satan forces)

I guess I'm at risk of becoming a certified racist..for I am truly pissed at ALL the "popular" black "leadership"..

I understand your point, and please bear in mind that my comments aren't directed at you. 'Popular' black leadership is whoever the media appoints as such, and you make an excellent point here.

He who is not against us is for us.