Ferocity of Sectarian Animus
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with 150-million people, is almost equally split between Muslims and Christians. The Christian majority population is in the south of the country, while the Muslim majority lives in the north, and the country's centre is a mixed population of both. And as in Sudan, there is a conflict between pastoralists and herders for the country's fertile agricultural areas.The conflict is double- or triple-pronged; the farmers are of the Berom tribe, and Christian, while the herders are of the Fulani tribe, and Muslim. Two months earlier, violence claimed the lives of over 300 people when youth gangs rampaged, burning mosques, churches and local businesses. Now, three small Christian villages in central Nigeria were attacked in an early-morning raid.
Muslims blocked off exits, after pre-warning Muslims in the villages to depart the scene, then attacking the remaining Christian residents with axes, machetes and guns as they attempted to escape. "We have over 500 killed in three villages... People were attacked with axes, daggers and cutlasses - many of them children, the aged, and pregnant women", the state information commissioner said.
That three-hour paroxysm of mass murder by machete-wielding Muslim raiders against Christians close to the northern city of Jos also left hundreds of people wounded. "I saw these attackers shooting into the air, scaring people out of their homes and hacking them as they tried to flee", described one of those who successfully fled to the hills on Sunday.
Some survivors who witnessed the carnage reported that people were caught in animal traps and nets in the pre-dawn dark. They described the technique used to separate Muslim Fulani villagers from those of the rival Christian Berom group. Chants of "nagge", the Fulani word for cattle, were repeated by those who understood the language; others who failed to respond were killed
The attacks appear to have resulted from a cattle-theft feud and revenge for the attacks where mostly Muslims were killed. "We were caught unawares ... and as we tried to escape, the Fulani, who were already waiting, slaughtered many of us", recounted another survivor.
The veneer of civilization proves to be precariously thin, once again.
Labels: Africa, Environment, Societal Failures
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, March 09, 2010
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