Nigerian violence

Deutsche Welle: There were deadly clashes between Christians and Muslims in Jos in 2001 and 2008 and now again. What triggered the outbreak of violence this time?

Abdul S. (name changed): It started off with some arguments between two neighbors, one a Muslim, one a Christian. They were trying to reconstruct their properties, which were destroyed in an earlier crisis. They did not agree on how to go about it. One said the other one was intruding into his affairs. The argument got out of hand and then the gangs took over.

Who are these gangs?

The gangs appear to be organised. It looks as if none of the sides is satisfied with the outcome of the previous crisis. So it appears they were just waiting for an opportunity like this.

You are referring to November 2008. What happened then?

An argument started during a local council election. And that blossomed into fighting between supporters of two political parties, who apparently were divided on religious and tribal lines. Tribal lines between the locals and those who are not indigenous to the Plateau State, though some of them were born there.

So what happened this time around?

The dissatisfaction from 2008 lead the two gangs all over town to set up reprisals. When adherents of one religion hear that there has been such an event in this part of town, they will immediately react. Anyone who is not within their own religion, is attacked. That goes for both sides.

Even neighbors attack each other?

I am a victim myself. My house was looted and burned down. I am a Muslim. Christian neighbors lead others, who have come from other areas of town, to destroy my property. Other Christian neighbors fought on my behalf, but they were overpowered.

Did the perpetrators know you personally?

Some of them know who I am. As a journalist I've been very open with them. They know I am liberal-minded: I have two Christians living in my house, eating my food. I fend for them, pay their school fees, because they are relatives of my wife. So I don't understand why they do that, because with what they did now, they also inflicted pain on the people that are of the same religion with them. Maybe they think that there are some economic benefits that they are deprived of. I don't understand.

How have the authorities reacted?

The intriguing thing that I cannot understand is, when the first wave of burning took place in my area, that is Anglo Jos, the good guys were overpowered by the supposedly bad guys. The army and the police came in and directed everybody and mostly the Muslims to move out, to come to the major road, with the hope that the troops could go in and catch the perpetrators. And everybody complied and was brought to a clear area. They directed people not to go back, because many were ready to defend their property. But the police didn't leave any guards behind, so the looters came back and virtually finished off the area.

We have been talking about religious and indigenous differences. What else is causing so much hatred amongst these people prosecuting one another?

Poverty does, illiteracy, misuse of opportunities. And above all I think there is the failure of the relevant governmental agencies to monitor. If the security agencies had monitored the Anglo Jos area in the previous crisis, they would have noticed there was an attempt to do such a thing. That was not done. And so there was an opportunity open for anybody who wanted to come in and harm any other person.

Poverty also plays a role. Otherwise if you claim that you're fighting in the name of religion, either Islam or Christianity, why would you go into a house, that is harboring someone from your own religion? There is the feeling by some of the indigenous people that those who came into the state appear to be the ones doing well economically. They are the ones who have agreed to go to school, to learn to do manual jobs, they are the ones who know how to do electronics. And these are people, who come from all over the country, from the Yoruba, from the Igbo. These are the people, who generally do this.

But it also has to be accepted that a few of the indigenous people are now learning, they see that progress can be made if you learn, if you go to school, if you work hard. But quite a few still live in their own ways of lazing about, taking alcohol and misbehaving.

There is another thing. The government should shy away from really putting the blame on one group. If people are fighting over land, they should be told to take their matter to a civil court.

You are talking to me from Abuja. How are your wife and children managing in Jos?

My family is displaced, but my wife is hiding in the house of a Christian neighbor. That is the irony of the entire situation.

The interview was conducted by Patrick Vanhulle
Editor: Rob Mudge