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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Religious leaders must unite to beat Nigeria's extremists |
| 2010-03-14 |
| Sir, The article by Ruth Gledhill and Jonathan Clayton (“500 butchered in Nigeria killing fields', Mar 9) portrays vividly the horror suffered by innocent civilians in the most recent outbreak of violence in what is becoming a deeply disturbing sequence of massacres. Your leading article also highlights the urgent need for the Nigerian Government to stabilise the country and to soothe “ethnic' tensions. Having visited northern Nigeria and Plateau state many times in recent years, I fully endorse the urgent need for measures to curb violence, which could increase and has the potential to destabilise Nigeria. However, your leading article reflects an inaccurate misrepresentation of the history of violence in referring to “a Christian-on-Muslim attack in January'. There are always claims and counter-claims, but on that occasion, reports clearly indicated that the killings began when Muslim youths attacked Christians on a Sunday morning, on their way to church. Muslims were also killed as those under attack began to fight back. In the violent attacks, not only in Plateau state, but also in neighbouring Bauchi and other northern states, a consistent pattern has emerged: they are initiated by well-armed Muslim extremists, chanting militant slogans, attacking and killing Christian and other non-Muslim citizens and destroying homes and places of worship. In the early stages of the attack, the Muslim militants take corpses to mosques, where they are photographed and released to the media, creating the impression that these are Muslim victims. The security forces have reportedly been too slow to intervene to stop the massacres. Subsequent retaliation has led to the deaths of Muslims, some of whom also died when security forces eventually intervened. During our last visit, I met Muslim and Christian leaders who are committed to trying to promote peace but their endeavours will not be helped by misunderstanding the reality of the situation. All the evidence on the ground indicates that these acts of violence are not primarily political or tribal. They are instigated by militant Islamist extremists. Several years ago I had the privilege of co-founding the International Islamic Christian Organisation for Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Indonesia, after attacks by Islamist extremists on the Muslim and Christian communities in Maluku and Sulawesi. It was very successful in preventing recurrence of fighting. Perhaps a similar initiative might help those Christian and Muslim leaders in Nigeria now trying to stem the violence? Baroness Cox CEO, Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust |
| Posted by:tipper |