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September 22, 2006

Nigeria: Muslims Burn Churches Over "Blasphemy"

A riot broke out in Dutse, capital of the northern Nigerian state of Jigawa on Wednesday. Jigawa (green in the map) was the first of the 12 states in northern Nigeria to adopt sharia law. The sharia adoption took place in August 2000.

There had been tension in the state last week between rival factions within the local branch of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the riots which took place seem to have happened as an overspill of this tension. The rioters claim that an incident of blasphemy created the havoc, but whatever its causes, the riots' outcomes have been serious. Christians, a minority in the state, have become the focus of mob anger.

The governor of the state, Ibrahim Saminu Turaki, according to the Nigerian Vanguard, narrowly escaped death yesterday when he was set upon by a crowd of hundreds of youths. The youths were assembled outside Dutse central mosque waiting for an announcement from the mosque emir who was to propose means of reducing ethnic and religious tension associated with an issue of blasphemy.

When the governor arrived in his car, it was attacked, and he withdrew at speed. His "chief detail" was hit in the face with machete hacks, and had to be rescued from the mosque by police. After that incident, the rampaging began again.

The actual cause of the rioting was, according to the Vanguard, based on anger felt by Muslim youths who believed that their "prophet" had been insulted. The Vanguard stated the blasphemy had been committed by a tailor, and the youths had gathered at the mosque to demand "justice".

According to Voice of America News, mirrored in Mens' News Daily the blasphemy had happened when a Christian woman had uttered a statement against Mohammed. A police spokesman said: "Yes, we had some violence there yesterday arising from a statement allegedly made by a Christian woman and a lot of miscreants took to the streets and burnt down churches and shops belonging to Christians and the IG [Inspector General of Police] has moved in and he has asked the AIG [Assistant Inspector General] of Abuja to proceed to Dutse and take over the place and he has also directed units of police mobile teams from Katsina and Kano, to go there and beef up security and restore normalcy."

VOA News states that a Muslim man had been making derogatory statements about Jesus, so the woman had responded with derogatory statements about Islam's "prophet".

As a result, the youths at Dutse Central Mosque went wild, and at least 10 churches, 20 shops and homes belonging to Christians were burned. Six people are in the local hospital, with one in a critical condition.

According to Vanguard, at least six churches were burned down, along with 20 residential buildings. The commercial center of Dutse was in ruins, and heavily-armed riot-police were said to be patrolling the city last night.

In 2000 in Kaduna (yellow on map), another of the northern states with sharia law, thousands of people, mostly Christians, were killed in inter-faith violence after sharia was adopted. Again in Kaduna in November 2002 riots happened after a newwspaper article implied that Mohammed would have loved the Miss World contest. At least 250 Christians were killed by rampaging Muslims, many of them hacked to death in their homes, and numerous churches were burned down by followers of the "religion of peace".

In June this year, a 20-year old woman was stoned to death by Muslims in sharia-supporting Niger State (maroon on map), after she blasphemed against the so-called prophet.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at September 22, 2006 12:16 AM

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