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ok previous user was right, but now i'm included this statement with source as new york times
Rewrote first paragraph to reflect multiple sources showing multiple motivations.
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[[File:Locator Map Jos-Nigeria.png|250px|right|thumb|Location of [[Jos]] in Nigeria]]
[[File:Locator Map Jos-Nigeria.png|250px|right|thumb|Location of [[Jos]] in Nigeria]]
The '''2010 Jos riots''' were allegedly religiously or ethnically motivated clashes between [[Islam in Nigeria|Muslims]] and [[Christianity in Nigeria|Christians]] in central [[Nigeria]] near the city of [[Jos]]. The area has been plagued by allegedly ethnic and sectarian violence for the past twenty years.<ref>''These killings are often painted by local politicians as a religious or sectarian conflict. In fact it is a struggle between ethnic groups for fertile land and resources in the region known as Nigeria's Middle Belt.'' Duffield, Caroline (8 March 2010) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8555018.stm "Nigeria ethnic violence 'leaves hundreds dead'"] ''BBC News'' </ref> The first violence of 2010 started on 17 January and lasted at least four days. Houses, churches, mosques and vehicles were set ablaze during the fighting.<ref name="AFP">{{cite news|url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gzl2_TiUNy_W4vqIC3NZSasnA5HA|title=Curfew relaxed in Nigeria's violence-wracked city: army|publisher=Agence France-Presse|accessdate=26 January 2010|location=Jos}}</ref> At least 200 people were killed.<ref name="Washington Post 2010-01-20">{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/20/AR2010012000542.html?hpid=sec-world|title=Group: More than 200 dead in Nigeria violence|last=Gambrell|first=Jon|date=20 January 2010|accessdate=20 January 2010|publisher=The Washington Post}}</ref>
The '''2010 Jos riots''' were clashes between [[Islam in Nigeria|Muslim]] and [[Christianity in Nigeria|Christian]] groups in central [[Nigeria]] near the city of [[Jos]]. The area has been plagued by violence for the past twenty years motivated by multiple factors.<ref name="Duffield">''These killings are often painted by local politicians as a religious or sectarian conflict. In fact it is a struggle between ethnic groups for fertile land and resources in the region known as Nigeria's Middle Belt.'' Duffield, Caroline (8 March 2010) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8555018.stm "Nigeria ethnic violence 'leaves hundreds dead'"] ''BBC News'' </ref> The clashes have been characterized as "religious violence" by many news sources<ref name="BBC_Jan20">{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8468456.stm|title=Nigeria religious riots 'kill 200' in Jos|date=20 January 2010|accessdate=8 March 2010|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> <ref name="CSM_Mar8">{{cite web|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2010/0308/Nigeria-violence-Muslim-Christian-clashes-kill-hundreds|title=Nigeria violence: Muslim-Christian clashes kill hundreds|last=Baldauf|first=Scott|date=8 March 2010|accessdate=8 March 2010|publisher=BBC News}}</ref>, although others site ethnic and economic differences as the root of the differences<ref name="Duffield"/>. The Anglican Archbishop of Jos, Benjamin A. Kwashi stated, "What seems to be a recurring decimal is that over time, those who have in the past used violence to settle political issues, economic issues, social matters, intertribal disagreements, or any issue for that matter, now continue to use that same path of violence and cover it up with religion." <ref name="Kwashi">{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/januaryweb-only/14-21.0.html|title=In Jos We Are Coming Face to Face in Confrontation with Satan|last=Kwashi|first=Benjamin|date=8 March 2010|accessdate=8 March 2010|publisher=Christianity Today}}</ref>


The first violence of 2010 started on 17 January and lasted at least four days. Houses, churches, mosques and vehicles were set ablaze during the fighting.<ref name="AFP">{{cite news|url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gzl2_TiUNy_W4vqIC3NZSasnA5HA|title=Curfew relaxed in Nigeria's violence-wracked city: army|publisher=Agence France-Presse|accessdate=26 January 2010|location=Jos}}</ref> At least 200 people were killed.<ref name="Washington Post 2010-01-20">{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/20/AR2010012000542.html?hpid=sec-world|title=Group: More than 200 dead in Nigeria violence|last=Gambrell|first=Jon|date=20 January 2010|accessdate=20 January 2010|publisher=The Washington Post}}</ref>
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Hundreds of people died in fresh clashes in March 2010. According to the New York Times, the slaughtered villagers were mostly Christians slain by [[machete]] attacks from the Hausa Fulani, a group of Muslim herdsmen.<ref>Adam Nossiter, ''New York Times. [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/world/africa/09nigeria.html?ref=global-home Ethnic Violence in Nigeria Has Killed 500, Officials Say] Retrieved March 8, 2010.</ref> Hundreds more left the scene of the attack in case the perpetrators returned.

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Hundreds of people died in fresh clashes in March 2010. According to the New York Times, the slaughtered villagers were mostly Christians slain by [[machete]] attacks from the Hausa-Fulani, a group of Muslim herdsmen.<ref>Adam Nossiter, ''New York Times. [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/world/africa/09nigeria.html?ref=global-home Ethnic Violence in Nigeria Has Killed 500, Officials Say] Retrieved March 8, 2010.</ref> Hundreds more left the scene of the attack in case the perpetrators returned.


==Overview==
==Overview==

Revision as of 23:16, 8 March 2010

Location of Jos in Nigeria

The 2010 Jos riots were clashes between Muslim and Christian groups in central Nigeria near the city of Jos. The area has been plagued by violence for the past twenty years motivated by multiple factors.[1] The clashes have been characterized as "religious violence" by many news sources[2] [3], although others site ethnic and economic differences as the root of the differences[1]. The Anglican Archbishop of Jos, Benjamin A. Kwashi stated, "What seems to be a recurring decimal is that over time, those who have in the past used violence to settle political issues, economic issues, social matters, intertribal disagreements, or any issue for that matter, now continue to use that same path of violence and cover it up with religion." [4]

The first violence of 2010 started on 17 January and lasted at least four days. Houses, churches, mosques and vehicles were set ablaze during the fighting.[5] At least 200 people were killed.[6]

Hundreds of people died in fresh clashes in March 2010. According to the New York Times, the slaughtered villagers were mostly Christians slain by machete attacks from the Hausa-Fulani, a group of Muslim herdsmen.[7] Hundreds more left the scene of the attack in case the perpetrators returned.

Overview

January

Jos is the capital of Plateau State, in the middle of the divide between the predominantly Muslim north of Nigeria and the predominately Christian south.[8] More than 5,000 people have been displaced in the violence. Reports on the catalyst vary. According to the state police commissioner, skirmishes began after Muslim youths set a Christian church ablaze.[9] Other community leaders say it began with an argument over the rebuilding of a Muslim home in a predominantly Christian neighborhood that had been destroyed in the November 2008 riots.[6] A 24-hour curfew was imposed on the city on 17 January 2010,[10] and Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan ordered troops to Jos to restore order.[11] Vice-President Jonathan currently holds executive authority, as President Umaru Yar'Adua was in Saudi Arabia receiving medical treatment from November 2009 until his return on February 24, 2010 with current medical and governmental status as yet unclear.[12][13] By 19 January 2010, at least 50 people had been arrested.[14]

On 20 January 2010, the BBC reported the fighting had spread to Pankshin, 100 km from Jos. These reports have been denied by the Army.[15] Figures provided by medical and aid officials, religious and community leaders as well as global rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) put the death toll in the clashes at 492. HRW, quoting figures it got from Muslim officials, said that 364 of those killed were Muslims.[5] The state police command said that there were 326 deaths and 313 arrests.[16]

This is the third major incident of rioting in Jos in the last ten years. One thousand people were killed in riots in 2001, and 300 died in subsequent 2008 violence.[17]

March

Before dawn on 7 March 2010, more than one hundred Christian villagers were killed by Muslim Hausa-Fulani herders in Dogo-Nahawa village near Jos.[18][19] The attacks went on for four hours,[20] and nearby villages were also targeted.[21] Guns were fired by the perpetrators to cause panic and led to villagers running towards them to be chopped up by machetes.[18] The villagers were mainly Berom Christians.[22] Buildings were also set alight.[22] Most of the dead were women and children.[18] One of the dead was an infant less than three months of age.[20] Corpses were dumped in the streets.[20] Goodluck Jonathan urged that the killers be caught.[19] The death toll was later updated to more than 300[23] and later 500.[24] Hundreds more left the village in case the attackers returned.[25]

Causes

Both Muslim and Christian youth have been blamed for starting the violence, with various reasons given.[13] However, Professor Kabiru Mato of the University of Abuja played down the role of religion in the riots: "I don't see anything religious. Wherein religion could be the difference between the two warring factions, fundamentally it's a manifestation of economic alienation. So social apathy, political frustration, economic deprivation and so many factors are responsible."[26] An ethnic rivalry between the Hausa and Berom peoples has also been considered as a factor in the violence.[27]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b These killings are often painted by local politicians as a religious or sectarian conflict. In fact it is a struggle between ethnic groups for fertile land and resources in the region known as Nigeria's Middle Belt. Duffield, Caroline (8 March 2010) "Nigeria ethnic violence 'leaves hundreds dead'" BBC News
  2. ^ "Nigeria religious riots 'kill 200' in Jos". BBC News. 20 January 2010. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  3. ^ Baldauf, Scott (8 March 2010). "Nigeria violence: Muslim-Christian clashes kill hundreds". BBC News. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  4. ^ Kwashi, Benjamin (8 March 2010). "In Jos We Are Coming Face to Face in Confrontation with Satan". Christianity Today. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  5. ^ a b "Curfew relaxed in Nigeria's violence-wracked city: army". Jos: Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  6. ^ a b Gambrell, Jon (20 January 2010). "Group: More than 200 dead in Nigeria violence". The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
  7. ^ Adam Nossiter, New York Times. Ethnic Violence in Nigeria Has Killed 500, Officials Say Retrieved March 8, 2010.
  8. ^ Nossiter, Adam (19 January 2010). "Christian-Muslim Mayhem in Nigeria Kills Dozens". New York, NY: The New York Times. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  9. ^ Associated, The (18 January 2010). "World Briefing – Africa – Nigeria – Religious Violence Kills 27". Nigeria: NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  10. ^ "Plateau governor invokes 24 hour curfew". Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  11. ^ "Jonathan orders troops to Jos religious crisis". Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  12. ^ McConnell, Tristan (7 January 2010). "Prove you are alive: clamour for missing Nigerian leader to show his face". Times (UK).
  13. ^ a b McConnell, Tristan (19 January 2010). "Nigerian Army ordered in as 200 die in Christian-Muslim riots". London, United Kingdom: The Times. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  14. ^ "THISDAY ONLINE / Nigeria news / African views on global news". Thisdayonline.com. 2010-01-19. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  15. ^ "Nigeria riot city under control, says army chief". London. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
  16. ^ Awolusi, Bunmi (26 January 2010). "We know culprits of Jos crisis, say police – The Guardian". Nigerian Bulletin. Retrieved 26 January 2010. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ Saka, Ahmed (19 January 2010). "Religious violence erupts again in central Nigeria". Associated Press. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  18. ^ a b c "Central Nigeria clashes lead to 'scores of deaths'". BBC News. March 7, 2010. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  19. ^ a b "Acting president orders "roving band of killers" to be apprehended". France24. March 7, 2010. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  20. ^ a b c Adam Nossiter (March 7, 2010). "Clashes Kill Dozens in Central Nigeria". The New York Times. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  21. ^ Obateru, Taye (March 7, 2010). "Jos boils again". Vanguard Media. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ a b "Officials: Attack on Nigerian town kills more than 100". CNN. March 7, 2010. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  23. ^ Shuaibu Mohammed (March 7, 2010). "UPDATE 5-Up to 300 feared dead in central Nigeria clashes". Reuters Africa. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  24. ^ "Nigeria religious clashes 'kill 500' near Jos". BBC. 2010-03-08. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  25. ^ "Christians slaughtered in Nigeria". The New Zealand Herald. March 7, 2010. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
  26. ^ Butty, James (19 January 2010). "Nigerian Professor Says Latest Jos Violence a Result of Many Factors". Voice of America News. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
  27. ^ Burgis, Tom (26 January 2010). "Ethnic rivalries fuel Nigeria violence". Financial Times. Jos. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
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