Date: Friday 20 March 2009
Subj: Nigeria: The Battle for Shari'ah Supremacy
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal
In January 2000, Governor Ahmad Sani Yarima Bakura defied the Nigerian Constitution and enacted Shari'ah Law in his north western state of Zamfara. Other northern and middle-belt Muslim-majority states soon followed and it was not long before all 12 northern states were under Shari'ah Law: the constitution of the Islamic State. In religiously mixed middle-belt states such as Kaduna and Plateau, thousands -- mostly Christians -- died in Shari'ah riots and anti-Christian pogroms.
Nigeria has a secular constitution which guarantees religious freedom and does not permit states to adopt a religion (See Link 1). Adoption of Islamic Law as the law of the state does violate the constitution. It is extremely unfortunate that the federal government did not nip the Shari'ah movement in the bud while it had the chance. Then-president Olusegun Obasanjo seriously underestimated the Shari'ah movement, believing it would fade away by itself. But of course it did not. Instead it has transformed from bud to monstrous ticking time bomb.
SHARI'AH IMPLEMENTATION
As long as the constitution of the Federation remains supreme, Shari'ah Law cannot be fully implemented because any Shari'ah ruling made in a northern Shari'ah court that conflicts with the provisions of the constitution of the Federation can be successfully appealed in a federal court on constitutional grounds. Because of this, Shari'ah courts have avoided issuing harsh penalties: the acquittal of Amina Lawal is a case point. In March 2002, Amina Lawal -- who had been charged with adultery after conceiving out of wedlock -- was sentenced by a Katsina Shari'ah Court to death by stoning. In September 2003, a Katsina Shari'ah Appeals Court acquitted her on procedural grounds. It was always understood that the death-by-stoning sentence -- which had attracted global attention -- would eventually have been overturned in the Supreme Court. (Link 2)
Subsequently, Shari'ah implementation slowed considerably.
The issue of the day is no longer Shari'ah adoption, but Shari'ah implementation. To this end, the Centre for the Promotion of Shari'ah held a three-day conference in Kano from Thursday 26 to Saturday 28 February to "brainstorm on the way forward for Shari'ah in Nigeria". (Link 3)
The Shari'ah advocates are pursuing constitutional amendments that would exempt Shari'ah Law from the constitutional provision in Article 1.3: "If any other law is inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution, this Constitution shall prevail, and that other law shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void." Such an exemption would essentially give Shari'ah Law (the constitution of the Islamic State) supremacy over the constitution of the Federation.
Isa Sa'idu reports for the Daily Trust that the Centre for the Promotion of Shari'ah (CPS) convened the conference with the aim of finding solutions to the problems militating against the implementation of the Shari'ah legal system in Nigeria. The conference was chaired by Senator Ahmad Sani Yarima (former governor of Zamfara State) and funded by the Kano State Government. (Link 3)
According to Senator Ahmad Sani Yarima, the main obstacle to Shari'ah implementation is the Federal Constitution. He proposed that each state have its own independent constitution. While ignoring the fact that such a move would essentially result in the break-up of Nigeria, Senator Yarima appealed to "democracy" saying, "Democracy is a game of numbers. If we are to practice democracy vis-a-vis the Shari'ah legal system, there is the need for us to have individual states' constitutions that would be drafted and supported by the people of every state. When we have that in place, states that want to practice Shari'ah can go ahead and do it holistically without any constraint." (Link 3)
According to the Daily Trust, the CPS National President, Imam Aliyu Ibrahim Al-Tukri said, " . . . some of the problems facing Shari'ah in Nigeria are non-execution of judgments on grave offences, pressure and negative campaigns from different groups, misconception and mischief about Shari'ah. He said the legal battle between Kano State and the federal government on the legality or otherwise of establishing the Hisbah (Shari'ah implementation guards) is a vivid example of attempt to frustrate Shari'ah implementation in Nigeria." (Link 3)
THE BATTLE OVER THE LEGALITY OF HISBAH (Hasba/sharia implementation)
After comfortably winning the 2003 state elections, Kano's Governor Ibrahim Shekarau established a Hisbah (Shari'ah implementation) Board. By 2005 Kano State had a 9000-volunteer-strong Hisbah Corps essentially operating as a parallel police force tasked primarily with enforcing Shari'ah Law.
In May 2004 the Kano Assembly passed legislation banning women riding on taxi mopeds, deeming it un-Islamic. In December 2005 Hisbah Corps launched a crack down on un-Islamic transport, in particular the persistent problem of women riding on taxi mopeds. The resultant clash between taxi drivers and the Hisbah Shari'ah enforcers -- which resulted in eleven people being injured and dozens of vehicles being vandalised -- generated an uproar.
But the greatest tension was not between the Hisbah Corps and the "masses" but between the Hisbah Corps and the police with whom they frequently clashed while pulling women off moving mopeds and confiscating alcohol from hotels etc.
On or around 7 February 2006, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Sunday Ehindero, told a press conference that the Hisbah Law and the operations of bodies created by the Hisbah Law were unconstitutional and therefore illegal. He claimed the Hisbah agencies undermined Nigeria's national security, and noted intelligence alleging the Hisbah Board was receiving assistance from Libya and Iran and that around 100 Hisbah officers had been trained abroad in the ideology and methodology of jihad and terrorism, a claim the Kano authorities denied.
On 8 February 2006, the Inspector-General of Police arrested the Chairman of the Hisbah Corps, Yahaya Faruk Chedi, and his Deputy, Abubakar Rabo Abdulkareen. The men, arrested in Kano, were immediately taken to Abudja where they were charged with conspiring to subvert the government by managing and assisting an unlawful society known as the Hisbah Board in Kano.
The Kano State Government responded by petitioning the Supreme Court of Nigeria, asking it to rule on the constitutionality of the Hisbah Law. The Federal Government then requested that the proceedings in the High Court of Abuja against the Kano Hisbah Corps Chairman and Deputy be stayed pending the determination of the suit at the apex court, because obviously the ruling of the apex court would impact the ruling of the Abuja High Court.
What Kano's Hisbah advocates were after was a Supreme Court ruling that would declare Hisbah lawful, and restrain the Inspector-General of Police from interfering in and disrupting the full implementation of the Law.
However, the Supreme Court ruled on 2 March 2007 that the case did not come under its jurisdiction as the Kano State Attorney-General's complaints were against the Inspector-General of Police and not against the Federation. Seven Chief Justices were unanimous in this and the case was struck out. (Full ruling see: Link 4)
In his ruling, Justice Mahmud Mohammed JSC notes that in 2005 the President of the Federation wrote a letter expressing concern about the Hisbah Board, to which the Governor of Kano State responded, allaying his fears. Subsequently, in July 2005 the President sent a delegation to Kano to investigate the situation. The Governor of Kano welcomed the delegation and reportedly extended full co-operation. The Governor of Kano also wrote to the President correcting the alleged misinformation being spread about the Hisbah Board.
As Justice Mohammed noted: "Not a single paragraph of the plaintiff's statement of claim accused the Federation of Nigeria or the Federal Republic of Nigeria of doing anything to the Hisbah Law of Kano State, the operation of the Hisbah Corps in Kano State or the arrest and detention of the named Commander General and Deputy Commander General of the Hisbah Corps in Kano State. On the face of the statement of claim of the plaintiff therefore, it is not difficult to see that there is no dispute whatsoever between Kano State in its status as a component unit of the Federation and the unit of the Federation itself which are the recognised parties when the original jurisdiction of this court is invoked."
In his judgment, Umaru Atu Kalgo JSC further elucidated the inaction of the Federal Government, adding that the President of the Federation "apart from writing the letter and sending a delegation on a fact finding mission to Kano, did not take or threaten to take any action against Kano State Government, or Hisbah Law, or any of its operators. There is no doubt that the President in his official capacity has the constitutional powers to address or deal with any security issue affecting or likely to affect Nigeria or any part thereof. He is the Chief Security Officer of this country and must be satisfied with any information on security before deciding whether to take action or not. In this case, the President did not take any action, apart from acquiring information from the Kano State Government, and therefore since he took no action at all, he is presumed to be satisfied with the explanation and information given to him."
In his judgment, Niki Tobi JSC noted that while there was clearly no dispute between the Kano State authorities and the Federal Government, Kano State was "asking for a declaration that the Kano State Hisbah Board Law No4 of 2003 and the Kano State Hisbah Board (Amendment) Law No 6 of 2005 are legal, lawful and constitutional", prompting Justice Tobi to ask: "Is the plaintiff not trying to jump the gun?"
And this is the point: the Federal Government has never challenged the legality of Shari'ah or Hisbah in the Supreme Court. Nor has it ever interfered with Shari'ah implementation. The Inspector-General of Police had acted in his own capacity when he made the claim that the Hisbah Corps was unconstitutional. The plaintiff's complaints were not against the Federation and so the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction. The plaintiff was left with the option of taking the complaint to the Federal High Court.
On 29 March 2007 the Daily Triumph reported that the presiding judge of the Abuja Court of Appeal, Justice Babs Kuewumi, had ruled the detention of Chairman of the Hisbah Corps, Yahaya Faruk Chedi, and his deputy, Abubakar Rabo Abdulkareen to be unlawful and ordered the Federal Government pay each of them the sum of N500,000 as compensation for their illegal detention. (Link 5)
RETURNING TO THE CPS CONFERENCE
The driving force behind the Centre for the Promotion of Shari'ah (CPS), Kano State Governor Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, told the Kano conference that implementation of the Shari'ah legal system gives "a higher meaning and direction to politics" (Link 3).
Using the language of human rights and religious freedom, Governor Shekarau implored the conference participants not to forget the plight of Muslims in the south. "While Muslims in the north are struggling and pushing for further expansion of Shari'ah in their respective states, those in the south have been denied the right to have their marriages, divorces, inheritance and other social activities to be officially conducted, regulated and resolved in accordance with the provision of Shari'ah Law. This is unfair and unacceptable and the kinds of this forum must find a peaceful way out for our brothers in the south, also. We all have a role to play to this predicament of our southern brothers."
The Daily Trust reports: "At the end of the conference, the participants agreed that for Shari'ah to work effectively in Nigeria, the problems of political will, constitutional constraint, disparity in the approaches adopted by the Shari'ah implementing states, attitudinal problems of some Muslims towards Shari'ah, among others, must be addressed.
"The conference therefore called for a joint effort by the Shari'ah implementing states to ensure that concerned Muslims reflected, and impediments to Shari'ah implementation are removed in the proposed constitutional review, among many other recommendations."
The fact that the conference participants lamented the "attitudinal problems of some Muslims" exposes the reality that Muslims are divided over Shari'ah. Not all Muslims want the provisions of Shari'ah forced upon them.
Abdulaziz Ahmad Abdulaziz, who reported on the CPS conference for LEADERSHIP NIGERIA (Abuja), sees the reincarnation of the Shari'ah debate as a battle for supremacy.
Abdulaziz reports: "Insiders confirmed to LEADERSHIP that major forces within the pro-Shari'ah camp are itching to take centre stage with the Shari'ah agenda. Apart from the need to seek more power for the Shari'ah legal code in the new constitution which some persons have expressed, others are setting out to play the Shari'ah ticket for political prominence. The cornerstone of this, LEADERSHIP gathered, is the political romance coming into the limelight between the former Zamfara State Governor, Ahmad Sani Yarima and the incumbent Kano State Governor, Ibrahim Shekarau." (Link 6)
While a dispute between the Senate and the House of Representatives over the leadership of the Joint Constitution Review Committee has thrown the constitutional review process into disarray, Shari'ah advocates are making the most of the opportunity to advance Governor Ibrahim Shekarau's presidential prospects. One such group, known as Shekarau Political Action (SHEPAC), believes that Governor Shekarau "could be a vehicle for the total emancipation of the people of Nigeria". (Link 7)
By Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria --1999
http://www.nigeria-law.org/ConstitutionOfTheFederalRepublicOfNigeria.htm
Article 1. (1) This Constitution is supreme and its provisions shall have binding force on the authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
(3) If any other law is inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution, this Constitution shall prevail, and that other law shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void.
Article 10. The Government of the Federation or of a State shall not adopt any religion as State Religion.
Article 38. (1) Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.
Links cont.
2) Facing Death for Adultery, Nigerian Woman Is Acquitted
By Somini Sengupta. Published: 26 September 2003
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9900E0D9153DF935A1575AC0A9659C8B63
3) Shari'ah: Surmounting the tall obstacles
by Isa Sa'idu, Kano. 10 March 2009
http://www.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5933&Itemid=17:testset
4) Supreme Court of Nigeria. Friday 2 March 2007. S.C. 26/2006
Between Attorney-General of Kano State (Plaintiff) and Attorney-General of the Federation (Defendant).
http://www.nigeria-law.org/Attorney-General%20of%20Kano%20State%20v%20Attorney-General%20of%20the%20Federation.htm
5) Rights abuse: Court orders FG pay Chedi, Rabo N1m
From Kabiru Yusuf, Abuja. 29 March 2007
http://www.triumphnewspapers.com/archive/DT29032007/right293207.html
6) Reincarnating The Shari'ah Debate?
By Abdulaziz Ahmad Abdulaziz. 10 March 2009
http://leadershipnigeria.com/news/138/ARTICLE/7971/2009-03-10.html
7) 2011: Inside Shekarau's 'presidential project'
By Suleiman M. Bisalla, 8 March 2009
http://www.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5818&Itemid=53
Showing posts with label Kano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kano. Show all posts
Friday, March 20, 2009
Thursday, May 13, 2004
Nigeria: Christians die in Kano after Muslims die in Plateau.
Date: Thursday 13 May 2004
Subj: Nigeria: Christians die in Kano after Muslims die in Plateau.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal.
Readers of WEA RLC News & Analysis will be very familiar with the consequences of Christian minorities being scapegoated and demonised for political gain through the playing of ethnic and religio-nationalist politics. The situation in Plateau state central Nigeria is the same as that, except in reverse, and this has led eventually to the appalling massacre of between 200 and 600 Muslims by "Christian" militiamen in Yelwa on 1-2 May.
In recent years Nigeria has seen some radical and devastating retaliatory attacks and rioting by northern Muslims in response to trivial "Christian" infractions, usually accusations of insulting Islam, the prophet Mohammad or the Qur'an. A prime example is the November 2002 Muslim riot in Kaduna, triggered by a journalist's comment concerning Nigeria's hosting of the Miss World contest. Muslims deemed her comment offensive and the ensuing riot left 200 dead, 1,000 injured, 11,000 homeless and 20 churches destroyed. Unfortunately these riots have become a feature of life in northern Nigeria, ensuring that the Christian minority lives in a perpetual state of fear-induced submission.
It therefore beggars the imagination to contemplate what might be in store for the Christians of Northern Nigeria after the appalling and devastating massacre in Yelwa, unless of course the government can restore calm.
On 11 May 04, in the northern state of Kano, a Muslim demonstration to protest the Yelwa deaths descended into chaos and rioting, leaving at least 11 Christians dead and two churches torched. Rioting continued on 12 May and the death toll rose to about 30 with some 50 injured and much property destruction. A dusk to dawn curfew has been imposed. Thousands of Christians have fled the city.
Even before the Yelwa massacre, Zamfara state had ordered the destruction of all churches in accordance with its implementation of "Sharia Phase 2". (Link 1) It is possible that the Yelwa massacre will be used to justify all manner of repression and persecution being unleashed upon an already besieged Christian minority. Security has been tightened in the northern city of Bauchi after leaflets were found calling on Muslims to avenge the Yelwa killings and on Christians to leave the region. Security has also been increased in Kaduna as tensions are running high.
On 11 May President Obasanjo held a crisis meeting with Muslim clerics in Abuja and implored them to be patient and give him time to deal with the matter. "I will appeal to you to restrain our Muslim brothers... because if you go for an eye for an eye, this country will be bloody."
------------------------------------------
PLATEAU: THE YELWA MASSACRE - HOW DID IT GET TO THIS?
Plateau State in central Nigeria is majority Christian. Before democracy came to Nigeria in 1999, the nation had been ruled almost exclusively by northern Muslims through a succession of military dictatorships. During those years, the Hausa Muslim minority of Plateau state gained privileges, and dominated politics, business and wealth. The poverty and marginalisation experienced by the Christian majority generated feelings of resentment.
When democracy did come to Nigeria in 1999, Christian political figures in Plateau discovered that ethnic politics could work for them, winning votes by feeding Christian resentment of Hausa Muslim domination and wealth. Hence there has developed in recent years a culture of "us and them" or of "indigene and stranger". The indigenes are Christian, poor and oppressed, while the strangers are Hausa, wealthy and dominating. People became political pawns - either majority vote-cattle to be appeased, or minority scapegoats to be demonised. This forms the backdrop to what has happened in Plateau in recent months.
Many Hausa-Fulani, though Muslims, have returned to or immigrated into Plateau state in recent years to escape the deteriorating conditions and harsh imposition of Sharia law in the northern states. There has been tit-for-tat conflict over land between the Hausa-Fulani cattle herders and the "Christian" Tarok crop farmers ever since.
The most recent cycle of violence, which has created the present crisis, began with Fulani cattle trampling Tarok crops. This is a real problem and needs to be addressed, as the crops are the Tarok's means of livelihood. Unfortunately the Tarok took the situation into their own hands and stole and killed Fulani cattle. This is also serious as the cattle are the Fulani's livelihood. This should have been addressed. Unfortunately the Fulani took matters into their own hands and on 24 February 2004 they, along with hired Islamic mercenaries from Chad and Niger, killed 90 Tarok in Yelwa, including 48 who were axed to death as they sought refuge in a Church of Christ in Nigeria church, which was then torched.
Two days later Christians in Gerkawa town in the Shendam district of Plateau state turned on their Muslim neighbours to avenge the Yelwa killings. At least 40 Muslims were killed with swords or cutlasses and their bodies burned. The army evacuated some 3,000 Muslims from Gerkawa to Yelwa as Christians fled Yelwa out of fear of further attacks.
These tit-for-tat attacks have been occurring across Plateau and escalating, taking on the dimensions of a religious war. The Muslims are recruiting Islamic mercenaries from Chad and Niger, while the "Christian" militia that attacked Yelwa was allegedly armed and supported by retired generals, further escalating the violence. The state government seems to have made little effort to stop the violence.
In the most recent attack, the "Christian" militia that attacked Yelwa on 1-2 May used high-powered automatic assault rifles mounted on jeeps. There are rumours circulating that the "Christians" were aiming to inflict a final solution and rid the region of Hausa-Fulani "once and for all".
Nigerian Red Cross staff told an AFP reporter that at least 630 people had been killed. A spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye, said however that a government team had visited Yelwa and put the death toll at between 200-300. Yelwa residents talk of a mass grave. However the National Emergency Management Agency investigated the grave and said that it had been in use for some time and that not all the bodies were recent. While the death toll is disputable and may possibly never be known, even 200 dead is a massacre of unacceptable and shocking proportions. (Link 2)
The Yelwa massacre has led to an exodus of Muslims from the region, further entrenching the religious polarisation of Nigerian society. The Plateau state government, which has fed ethnic and religious tensions for its own political gain, and has been totally ineffective in dealing with the crisis, must shoulder much of the blame.
KANO BOILS AND CHRISTIANS DIE
Islamic zeal is strong in the northern state of Kano. Kano's governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, was elected on a radical, hardline, pro-Sharia platform. Christians suffer intense persecution in Kano, their schools and churches having been closed and burned. It is compulsory for all public-school girls to wear Islamic hijab, and as the Christian schools have been closed Christians don't have much choice. On the night of Shekarau's election (21 May 2003), pastor Chikezie (Sunday) Madumere and his whole family were burned to death in their home in "No Man's Land" Kano city, by Muslim mobs celebrating Shekarau's win.
Kano has recently introduced a Mobile Court to monitor and deal with people selling and screening foreign films or videos, and selling or playing foreign audio CDs. The Mobile Court will be guided by Sharia law and is charged to work toward the institutionalisation of Islamic norms in all spheres of life. (Link 3)
In early May, Sheik Kabo informed Kano's Sharia Enforcement enforcers (HISBA) that the Kano State Sharia Commission would no longer permit any area or any person to be exempt from Sharia. He recommended that anyone who is not willing to adhere to Sharia should leave the state. (Link 4)
Reports that Christians had massacred more than 600 Muslims in Yelwa, Plateau state, quickly reach Kano. On Tuesday 11 May, Muslim leaders led a protest march that started off peacefully but degenerated into a violent riot.
Associated Press writer Oloche Samuel reports that angry Muslims hunted for "nonbelievers" whom they then killed with machetes before burning the bodies. "The violence came hours after thousands of Muslim protesters - some carrying daggers, sickles and clubs - marched from the main mosque in the northern city of Kano, traditionally a hotbed of religious tensions.
"Amina Usman, a 19-year-old university student, recounted seeing two mutilated bodies next to a makeshift checkpoint where young Muslim Hausa-speaking men armed with sticks, knives and clubs were searching cars for Christians and animists and asking passengers to recite Muslim prayers.
"An Associated Press reporter saw youths at a makeshift checkpoint of burning tires strike three young women with machetes after accusing them of being 'nonbelievers' for wearing Western-style skirts and blouses. The women escaped with bleeding head wounds after several motorcycle taxi drivers intervened."
Oloche Samuel reports that Umar Ibrahim Kabo, the most senior Muslim cleric in Kano, told protesters, some of whom burned U.S. and Israeli flags, 'This violence is a calculated global Western war against Muslims, just like in Afghanistan and Iraq. Muslims are in grief'."
According to Samuel, "Kabo issued a seven-day ultimatum to Obasanjo to apprehend the Yelwa killers 'or be blamed for whatever happens' afterward." (Link 5)
-------------------------------------------------------
Genuine followers of Jesus Christ are paying a heavy price for this ethnic and religious conflict. Obed Minchakpu reported for Compass Direct on 2 April that the violence in Plateau in late March had resulted in the deaths of 8 pastors and 1,500 Christian believers, and the destruction of 173 churches. Reverend Dr Alexander Mamdip Lar, President of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN), reports concerning the Plateau crisis (2 May), "We [COCIN] lost two ordained ministers in Jos and Rim [and] 117 of our churches were destroyed, while six pastors, one ordained minister and hundreds of members were killed in Wase, thus completely obliterating the church there." As he says, the Church in Plateau is "under siege".
While genuine followers of Christ are not likely to be involved in atrocities, they will be (and are) hit first and most savagely in any retaliation.
- Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) Zamfara Launches Sharia Phase II. 24 April 2004
http://allafrica.com/stories/200404260559.html
2) Death toll in Nigerian 'massacre' revised. 10 May 2004
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=86&art_id=qw1084184820267N26
5&set_id=1
3) Kano Establishes Mobile Court to Preserve Culture, Beliefs
Vanguard (Lagos) 20 April 2004. By Tina Anthony in Kano
http://allafrica.com/stories/200404200985.html
4) Sharia: No Part of Kano is Exempted --Kabo
Vanguard (Lagos) 3 May 2004. By Tina Anthony in Kano
http://allafrica.com/stories/200405040076.html
5) Nigerian Muslim protest turns violent in wake of sectarian
killings. By Oloche Samuel, Associated Press, 11 May 2004
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20040511-1240-nigeria-viole
nce.html
FURTHER REPORT ON PLATEAU & KANO VIOLENCE
Shoot-on-sight order in Kano as death toll hits 30
By Tina Anthony, Taye Obateru, Charles Ozoemena & agency report
Vanguard (Lagos). 13 May 2004
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/headline/f113052004.html
----------------------------------
PLUS - FURTHER ANALYSIS
----------------------------------
Bigotry and avarice fuel Nigerian conflicts.
By Dave Clark, 8 May 2004
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=68&art_id=qw1084030920351B252&set_id=1
AND
Tears for Plateau (Daily Trust, Abuja)
OPINION Ujudud Shariff. 11 May 2004
http://allafrica.com/stories/200405110306.html
Subj: Nigeria: Christians die in Kano after Muslims die in Plateau.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal.
Readers of WEA RLC News & Analysis will be very familiar with the consequences of Christian minorities being scapegoated and demonised for political gain through the playing of ethnic and religio-nationalist politics. The situation in Plateau state central Nigeria is the same as that, except in reverse, and this has led eventually to the appalling massacre of between 200 and 600 Muslims by "Christian" militiamen in Yelwa on 1-2 May.
In recent years Nigeria has seen some radical and devastating retaliatory attacks and rioting by northern Muslims in response to trivial "Christian" infractions, usually accusations of insulting Islam, the prophet Mohammad or the Qur'an. A prime example is the November 2002 Muslim riot in Kaduna, triggered by a journalist's comment concerning Nigeria's hosting of the Miss World contest. Muslims deemed her comment offensive and the ensuing riot left 200 dead, 1,000 injured, 11,000 homeless and 20 churches destroyed. Unfortunately these riots have become a feature of life in northern Nigeria, ensuring that the Christian minority lives in a perpetual state of fear-induced submission.
It therefore beggars the imagination to contemplate what might be in store for the Christians of Northern Nigeria after the appalling and devastating massacre in Yelwa, unless of course the government can restore calm.
On 11 May 04, in the northern state of Kano, a Muslim demonstration to protest the Yelwa deaths descended into chaos and rioting, leaving at least 11 Christians dead and two churches torched. Rioting continued on 12 May and the death toll rose to about 30 with some 50 injured and much property destruction. A dusk to dawn curfew has been imposed. Thousands of Christians have fled the city.
Even before the Yelwa massacre, Zamfara state had ordered the destruction of all churches in accordance with its implementation of "Sharia Phase 2". (Link 1) It is possible that the Yelwa massacre will be used to justify all manner of repression and persecution being unleashed upon an already besieged Christian minority. Security has been tightened in the northern city of Bauchi after leaflets were found calling on Muslims to avenge the Yelwa killings and on Christians to leave the region. Security has also been increased in Kaduna as tensions are running high.
On 11 May President Obasanjo held a crisis meeting with Muslim clerics in Abuja and implored them to be patient and give him time to deal with the matter. "I will appeal to you to restrain our Muslim brothers... because if you go for an eye for an eye, this country will be bloody."
------------------------------------------
PLATEAU: THE YELWA MASSACRE - HOW DID IT GET TO THIS?
Plateau State in central Nigeria is majority Christian. Before democracy came to Nigeria in 1999, the nation had been ruled almost exclusively by northern Muslims through a succession of military dictatorships. During those years, the Hausa Muslim minority of Plateau state gained privileges, and dominated politics, business and wealth. The poverty and marginalisation experienced by the Christian majority generated feelings of resentment.
When democracy did come to Nigeria in 1999, Christian political figures in Plateau discovered that ethnic politics could work for them, winning votes by feeding Christian resentment of Hausa Muslim domination and wealth. Hence there has developed in recent years a culture of "us and them" or of "indigene and stranger". The indigenes are Christian, poor and oppressed, while the strangers are Hausa, wealthy and dominating. People became political pawns - either majority vote-cattle to be appeased, or minority scapegoats to be demonised. This forms the backdrop to what has happened in Plateau in recent months.
Many Hausa-Fulani, though Muslims, have returned to or immigrated into Plateau state in recent years to escape the deteriorating conditions and harsh imposition of Sharia law in the northern states. There has been tit-for-tat conflict over land between the Hausa-Fulani cattle herders and the "Christian" Tarok crop farmers ever since.
The most recent cycle of violence, which has created the present crisis, began with Fulani cattle trampling Tarok crops. This is a real problem and needs to be addressed, as the crops are the Tarok's means of livelihood. Unfortunately the Tarok took the situation into their own hands and stole and killed Fulani cattle. This is also serious as the cattle are the Fulani's livelihood. This should have been addressed. Unfortunately the Fulani took matters into their own hands and on 24 February 2004 they, along with hired Islamic mercenaries from Chad and Niger, killed 90 Tarok in Yelwa, including 48 who were axed to death as they sought refuge in a Church of Christ in Nigeria church, which was then torched.
Two days later Christians in Gerkawa town in the Shendam district of Plateau state turned on their Muslim neighbours to avenge the Yelwa killings. At least 40 Muslims were killed with swords or cutlasses and their bodies burned. The army evacuated some 3,000 Muslims from Gerkawa to Yelwa as Christians fled Yelwa out of fear of further attacks.
These tit-for-tat attacks have been occurring across Plateau and escalating, taking on the dimensions of a religious war. The Muslims are recruiting Islamic mercenaries from Chad and Niger, while the "Christian" militia that attacked Yelwa was allegedly armed and supported by retired generals, further escalating the violence. The state government seems to have made little effort to stop the violence.
In the most recent attack, the "Christian" militia that attacked Yelwa on 1-2 May used high-powered automatic assault rifles mounted on jeeps. There are rumours circulating that the "Christians" were aiming to inflict a final solution and rid the region of Hausa-Fulani "once and for all".
Nigerian Red Cross staff told an AFP reporter that at least 630 people had been killed. A spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye, said however that a government team had visited Yelwa and put the death toll at between 200-300. Yelwa residents talk of a mass grave. However the National Emergency Management Agency investigated the grave and said that it had been in use for some time and that not all the bodies were recent. While the death toll is disputable and may possibly never be known, even 200 dead is a massacre of unacceptable and shocking proportions. (Link 2)
The Yelwa massacre has led to an exodus of Muslims from the region, further entrenching the religious polarisation of Nigerian society. The Plateau state government, which has fed ethnic and religious tensions for its own political gain, and has been totally ineffective in dealing with the crisis, must shoulder much of the blame.
KANO BOILS AND CHRISTIANS DIE
Islamic zeal is strong in the northern state of Kano. Kano's governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, was elected on a radical, hardline, pro-Sharia platform. Christians suffer intense persecution in Kano, their schools and churches having been closed and burned. It is compulsory for all public-school girls to wear Islamic hijab, and as the Christian schools have been closed Christians don't have much choice. On the night of Shekarau's election (21 May 2003), pastor Chikezie (Sunday) Madumere and his whole family were burned to death in their home in "No Man's Land" Kano city, by Muslim mobs celebrating Shekarau's win.
Kano has recently introduced a Mobile Court to monitor and deal with people selling and screening foreign films or videos, and selling or playing foreign audio CDs. The Mobile Court will be guided by Sharia law and is charged to work toward the institutionalisation of Islamic norms in all spheres of life. (Link 3)
In early May, Sheik Kabo informed Kano's Sharia Enforcement enforcers (HISBA) that the Kano State Sharia Commission would no longer permit any area or any person to be exempt from Sharia. He recommended that anyone who is not willing to adhere to Sharia should leave the state. (Link 4)
Reports that Christians had massacred more than 600 Muslims in Yelwa, Plateau state, quickly reach Kano. On Tuesday 11 May, Muslim leaders led a protest march that started off peacefully but degenerated into a violent riot.
Associated Press writer Oloche Samuel reports that angry Muslims hunted for "nonbelievers" whom they then killed with machetes before burning the bodies. "The violence came hours after thousands of Muslim protesters - some carrying daggers, sickles and clubs - marched from the main mosque in the northern city of Kano, traditionally a hotbed of religious tensions.
"Amina Usman, a 19-year-old university student, recounted seeing two mutilated bodies next to a makeshift checkpoint where young Muslim Hausa-speaking men armed with sticks, knives and clubs were searching cars for Christians and animists and asking passengers to recite Muslim prayers.
"An Associated Press reporter saw youths at a makeshift checkpoint of burning tires strike three young women with machetes after accusing them of being 'nonbelievers' for wearing Western-style skirts and blouses. The women escaped with bleeding head wounds after several motorcycle taxi drivers intervened."
Oloche Samuel reports that Umar Ibrahim Kabo, the most senior Muslim cleric in Kano, told protesters, some of whom burned U.S. and Israeli flags, 'This violence is a calculated global Western war against Muslims, just like in Afghanistan and Iraq. Muslims are in grief'."
According to Samuel, "Kabo issued a seven-day ultimatum to Obasanjo to apprehend the Yelwa killers 'or be blamed for whatever happens' afterward." (Link 5)
-------------------------------------------------------
Genuine followers of Jesus Christ are paying a heavy price for this ethnic and religious conflict. Obed Minchakpu reported for Compass Direct on 2 April that the violence in Plateau in late March had resulted in the deaths of 8 pastors and 1,500 Christian believers, and the destruction of 173 churches. Reverend Dr Alexander Mamdip Lar, President of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN), reports concerning the Plateau crisis (2 May), "We [COCIN] lost two ordained ministers in Jos and Rim [and] 117 of our churches were destroyed, while six pastors, one ordained minister and hundreds of members were killed in Wase, thus completely obliterating the church there." As he says, the Church in Plateau is "under siege".
While genuine followers of Christ are not likely to be involved in atrocities, they will be (and are) hit first and most savagely in any retaliation.
- Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) Zamfara Launches Sharia Phase II. 24 April 2004
http://allafrica.com/stories/200404260559.html
2) Death toll in Nigerian 'massacre' revised. 10 May 2004
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=86&art_id=qw1084184820267N26
5&set_id=1
3) Kano Establishes Mobile Court to Preserve Culture, Beliefs
Vanguard (Lagos) 20 April 2004. By Tina Anthony in Kano
http://allafrica.com/stories/200404200985.html
4) Sharia: No Part of Kano is Exempted --Kabo
Vanguard (Lagos) 3 May 2004. By Tina Anthony in Kano
http://allafrica.com/stories/200405040076.html
5) Nigerian Muslim protest turns violent in wake of sectarian
killings. By Oloche Samuel, Associated Press, 11 May 2004
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20040511-1240-nigeria-viole
nce.html
FURTHER REPORT ON PLATEAU & KANO VIOLENCE
Shoot-on-sight order in Kano as death toll hits 30
By Tina Anthony, Taye Obateru, Charles Ozoemena & agency report
Vanguard (Lagos). 13 May 2004
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/headline/f113052004.html
----------------------------------
PLUS - FURTHER ANALYSIS
----------------------------------
Bigotry and avarice fuel Nigerian conflicts.
By Dave Clark, 8 May 2004
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=68&art_id=qw1084030920351B252&set_id=1
AND
Tears for Plateau (Daily Trust, Abuja)
OPINION Ujudud Shariff. 11 May 2004
http://allafrica.com/stories/200405110306.html
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Nigeria: Kano under Shakarau.
Date: Wednesday 10 September 2003
Subj: Nigeria: Kano under Shakarau - all schoolgirls to wear hijab.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal.
KANO UNDER SHEKARAU
Sharia law was officially launched in the northern state of Kano on 21 June 2000. However, the then governor, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, was reluctant to enforce sharia in such a cosmopolitan city as Kano city. His primary interest as governor was rural development and he was constantly accused by pro-sharia groups of dragging his feet on the issue of implementation of sharia.
The 19 April 2003 governorship elections resulted in a change of governor in Kano. Dr. Kwankwaso, who was aligned with Obasanjo's PDP, was defeated by Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, who was aligned to Muhammadu Buhari's pro-sharia, Islamist ANPP. Shekarau campaigned on a platform of rigorous sharia enforcement.
Daily Trust of Abuja reported on 20 June that the Kano State House of Assembly had vowed to "rectify all policies that contradict Islamic and Hausa cultures, inherited from the former administration. The House also resolved that only policies which goes in line with principles of Islam would be promulgated."
ALL GIRLS IN STATE PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO WEAR HIJAB
The United Nations Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) reported on 1 September 2003, "Kano state government in northern Nigeria has made it compulsory for all girls attending schools run by the state government to wear the hijab Islamic headscarf, whether or not they are Muslim." (Link 1)
The directive does not apply to private schools or schools run by the Nigerian Federal Government, but it does apply to all girls of all religions who attend schools run by the state government. Considering that the Kano state government has closed virtually all Kano's Christian schools, Christian families are not going to have much choice.
(Christian schools are closed in Kano on the grounds that they do not meet state mandated standards. The education standards however, include the mandate that all schools (Christian schools included) must employ Islamic clerics to indoctrinate the children in Islam. Those schools that refuse are closed.)
According to the IRIN report, "Kano state commissioner for education, Ishaq Mahmoud Umar, said the order for schoolgirls to wear the hijab formed part of the state government's efforts to uphold public morals and ensure 'the teachings of Islam are applied in each and every aspect of governance'."
The Vanguard of Lagos reported "Northern states chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has frowned at attempts by some of the states to force Christian students to wear the Hijab." (Link 2)
A CAN communiqué urged governments of northern states to "respect Christian culture in the interest of peace and harmony". CAN also expressed disappointment over what it termed "large-scale discrimination against Northern Christian students in admission policies of some institutions of higher learning in certain courses such as medicine and law."
Al-Jazeera added that not only will all girls in public state schools wear hijab, but all public schools will now have imams to lead prayers. (al-Jazeera, 30 Aug, Abuja)
- Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) Kano State Directs All School Girls to Wear Muslim Scarf
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) 1 September 2003
http://allafrica.com/stories/200309020503.html
CAN Flays Imposition of Hijjab On Christian Students in Northern
States. By Umar Yusuf. Vanguard (Lagos) 5 September 2003
http://allafrica.com/stories/200309050798.html
Subj: Nigeria: Kano under Shakarau - all schoolgirls to wear hijab.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal.
KANO UNDER SHEKARAU
Sharia law was officially launched in the northern state of Kano on 21 June 2000. However, the then governor, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, was reluctant to enforce sharia in such a cosmopolitan city as Kano city. His primary interest as governor was rural development and he was constantly accused by pro-sharia groups of dragging his feet on the issue of implementation of sharia.
The 19 April 2003 governorship elections resulted in a change of governor in Kano. Dr. Kwankwaso, who was aligned with Obasanjo's PDP, was defeated by Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, who was aligned to Muhammadu Buhari's pro-sharia, Islamist ANPP. Shekarau campaigned on a platform of rigorous sharia enforcement.
Daily Trust of Abuja reported on 20 June that the Kano State House of Assembly had vowed to "rectify all policies that contradict Islamic and Hausa cultures, inherited from the former administration. The House also resolved that only policies which goes in line with principles of Islam would be promulgated."
ALL GIRLS IN STATE PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO WEAR HIJAB
The United Nations Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) reported on 1 September 2003, "Kano state government in northern Nigeria has made it compulsory for all girls attending schools run by the state government to wear the hijab Islamic headscarf, whether or not they are Muslim." (Link 1)
The directive does not apply to private schools or schools run by the Nigerian Federal Government, but it does apply to all girls of all religions who attend schools run by the state government. Considering that the Kano state government has closed virtually all Kano's Christian schools, Christian families are not going to have much choice.
(Christian schools are closed in Kano on the grounds that they do not meet state mandated standards. The education standards however, include the mandate that all schools (Christian schools included) must employ Islamic clerics to indoctrinate the children in Islam. Those schools that refuse are closed.)
According to the IRIN report, "Kano state commissioner for education, Ishaq Mahmoud Umar, said the order for schoolgirls to wear the hijab formed part of the state government's efforts to uphold public morals and ensure 'the teachings of Islam are applied in each and every aspect of governance'."
The Vanguard of Lagos reported "Northern states chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has frowned at attempts by some of the states to force Christian students to wear the Hijab." (Link 2)
A CAN communiqué urged governments of northern states to "respect Christian culture in the interest of peace and harmony". CAN also expressed disappointment over what it termed "large-scale discrimination against Northern Christian students in admission policies of some institutions of higher learning in certain courses such as medicine and law."
Al-Jazeera added that not only will all girls in public state schools wear hijab, but all public schools will now have imams to lead prayers. (al-Jazeera, 30 Aug, Abuja)
- Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) Kano State Directs All School Girls to Wear Muslim Scarf
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) 1 September 2003
http://allafrica.com/stories/200309020503.html
CAN Flays Imposition of Hijjab On Christian Students in Northern
States. By Umar Yusuf. Vanguard (Lagos) 5 September 2003
http://allafrica.com/stories/200309050798.html
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
Nigeria: Kano's Martyrs
Date: Tuesday 13 May 2003
Subj: Nigeria: Kano's Martyrs
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty E-mail Conference
From: Elizabeth Kendal, Conference Moderator
NIGERIA: KANO'S MARTYRS
The Nigerian elections are over. Olusegun Obasanjo's Popular Democratic Party (PDP) won the federal legislative elections held on 12 April 03, securing both houses of parliament. Olusegun Obasanjo won the Presidential poll on 19 April, polling 24.5 million ballots or sixty-two percent of the vote (with the required nation-wide spread), to pro-Sharia (Islamic Law) hardliner Muhammadu Buhari's 12.7 million or thirty-two percent, concentrated in the far north. Also on 19 April were the governorship elections, while the state legislative elections were held on 3 May.
The relative peacefulness of the election period amazed observers who had anticipated wide-scale election violence. Millions of Christians had prayed for peace - God deserves all the glory.
In Kano, Northern Nigeria, the election has however, caused a dramatic escalation of Islamist zeal, which may be responsible for the deaths of a Baptist pastor, his wife, three children and two relatives - burned to death in their home on 22 April. One other son escaped the flames and survived with serious injuries. (Link 1)
RELIGIOUS TENSIONS IN KANO
On 1 March 2000, Kano became the forth northern Nigerian state to adopt Sharia Law. On 21 June 2000, when Sharia was officially launched in Kano, hundreds of thousands of Kano Muslims celebrated, in possibly the largest crowds ever seen on Kano's streets.
At that time, Kano Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso said that although Sharia had been adopted, its actual implementation would not begin for several months whilst the necessary structures were put in place. However, Governor Kwankwaso never did get around to doing much about the implementation of Sharia, preferring to concentrate his efforts on rural development.
The adoption of Sharia did however raise Islamic sentiment and sensitivities in Kano, Nigeria's most populous northern state. The result has been regular violent attacks upon Christians, and the destruction and closure of churches, such that Kano has become one of the most hostile places for Christians in all of Nigeria.
ELECTIONS 2003
Kano was the only one of Nigeria's thirty-six states where an incumbent Popular Democratic Party (PDP) governor lost his governorship to an All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) challenger.
According to a report by Tajudeen Sulaiman in Kano, entitled "Upset in Kano", published in "The News", Lagos, "Kwankwaso's (PDP) administration had electrified and brought portable water to almost every village in the rural areas, and had instituted a welfare scheme whereby rural women received up to N5, 000 every month to run small scale business." (Called the "Women Empowerment Programme".)
Yet, although Governor Kwankwaso (PDP) had achieved much in terms of development, he had, according to his ANPP challenger Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau (who is second only to Buhari himself as an ANPP ideologue and flag-bearer) been "dishonest in the implementation of Sharia."
Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau campaigned for the governorship of Kano on a hardline, full-implementation of Sharia platform. During his campaign rallies in Kano city, chants of "Allahu Akbar" would rent the air. He had no money to fund his campaign, and he relied almost totally on the support of Islamic clerics and proponents of Sharia, particularly the Hisba Committee (Vanguards of Sharia Implementation in Kano) who campaigned for him.
Reporter Tajudeen Sulaiman goes on to say, "Buhari and his campaigners exploited the religious sentiments of ordinary Northern Muslims. Those campaigning for PDP and Obasanjo were labelled as non-believers who did not deserve the vote of 'good Muslims.' ANPP campaigners in Kano went about with megaphones calling on Muslims to see the gubernatorial elections as a jihad." (Link 2)
RESULTS AND RESPONSE
Kano voted overwhelmingly for the ANPP in Federal elections, for Buhari for President, for an ANPP pro-Sharia state governor (Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau) and for an ANPP dominated state parliament.
As the results of the federal parliamentary elections trickled out and it became ever clearer that the PDP would not only retain federal power but hold control both houses of federal parliament, tension rose amongst Buhari / ANPP supporters.
Buhari fuelled the flames with denouncements and a rejection of the results, declaring, "This would be the first election in which, through elaborate collusion, those who lost elections were declared winners and those who won lost," and highly inflammatory remarks about the "massive and state organized rape on democracy," and threats of "mass action." By the time the presidential polls were being held on 19 April, tensions were at boiling point in the ANPP / Buhari stronghold of Kano.
When the presidential and governorship results were announced on the evening of 21 April, Kano's Muslims came out onto the streets to celebrate Shekarau's win as Kano's new pro-Sharia governor. (Link3)
By 4:15am, the home of pastor Chikezie (Sunday) Madumere was alight. The Madumere home was located in an area of Kano city known as "no man's land." Obed Minchak, reporting for Compass Direct, described Pastor Madumere as "a zealous Christian preacher. known for his powerful preaching, which has led many Muslims in Kano to convert to the Christian faith."
The Compass Direct 7 May news release said, "Observers believe the conversions may have angered Muslim militants in the city and they decided to eliminate him.
"Police authorities say the fire may have been caused by an electrical fault. Christian leaders, however, have ruled out that theory, insisting that the pastor and his family were victims of
religious intolerance."
--------------------
With Buhari continuing his inflammatory rhetoric, rejecting the results and demanding re-elections threatening, "Otherwise there will be no government by 30 May," we should expect Kano to become increasingly unsettled and hostile.
Renowned Muslim cleric, Alhaji Surajudeen Asukuna, described Buhari's outbursts as "provocative, un-Islamic and capable of setting the country on fire...capable of truncating the nation's nascent democracy."
The "middle belt" of central Nigeria voted overwhelmingly for Obasanjo, because Buhari was seen as a lackey of a religious group; as a tribalist and a religious leader. Most Nigerians, Christians and Muslims alike, did not want that for Nigeria. But as discontent and anger escalates in "Buhariland" (the northern Sharia states) - Kano will certainly be the state to watch and pray over.
The Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria (SCSN) has called for the establishment of a new Shariah implementation Committee in Kano State to expedite the full implementation of Sharia. (Link 4)
- Elizabeth Kendal
LINKS
1) Pastor, Six Others Die in Fire Outbreak
Daily Trust (Abuja) 23 April 2003
http://allafrica.com/stories/200304230568.html
2) "Upset in Kano" By Tajudeen Sulaiman in Kano
The News (Lagos) 5 May 2003
http://allafrica.com/stories/200305050343.html
3) "Nigeria's powerful new governors"
By Joseph Winter
BBC News Online, Abuja, 22 April 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2967881.stm
4) "SCSN Calls for New Shariah C'ttee"
By Jamilah Nuhu Musa
Daily Trust (Abuja) 30 April 2003
http://allafrica.com/stories/200304300688.html
Subj: Nigeria: Kano's Martyrs
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty E-mail Conference
From: Elizabeth Kendal, Conference Moderator
NIGERIA: KANO'S MARTYRS
The Nigerian elections are over. Olusegun Obasanjo's Popular Democratic Party (PDP) won the federal legislative elections held on 12 April 03, securing both houses of parliament. Olusegun Obasanjo won the Presidential poll on 19 April, polling 24.5 million ballots or sixty-two percent of the vote (with the required nation-wide spread), to pro-Sharia (Islamic Law) hardliner Muhammadu Buhari's 12.7 million or thirty-two percent, concentrated in the far north. Also on 19 April were the governorship elections, while the state legislative elections were held on 3 May.
The relative peacefulness of the election period amazed observers who had anticipated wide-scale election violence. Millions of Christians had prayed for peace - God deserves all the glory.
In Kano, Northern Nigeria, the election has however, caused a dramatic escalation of Islamist zeal, which may be responsible for the deaths of a Baptist pastor, his wife, three children and two relatives - burned to death in their home on 22 April. One other son escaped the flames and survived with serious injuries. (Link 1)
RELIGIOUS TENSIONS IN KANO
On 1 March 2000, Kano became the forth northern Nigerian state to adopt Sharia Law. On 21 June 2000, when Sharia was officially launched in Kano, hundreds of thousands of Kano Muslims celebrated, in possibly the largest crowds ever seen on Kano's streets.
At that time, Kano Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso said that although Sharia had been adopted, its actual implementation would not begin for several months whilst the necessary structures were put in place. However, Governor Kwankwaso never did get around to doing much about the implementation of Sharia, preferring to concentrate his efforts on rural development.
The adoption of Sharia did however raise Islamic sentiment and sensitivities in Kano, Nigeria's most populous northern state. The result has been regular violent attacks upon Christians, and the destruction and closure of churches, such that Kano has become one of the most hostile places for Christians in all of Nigeria.
ELECTIONS 2003
Kano was the only one of Nigeria's thirty-six states where an incumbent Popular Democratic Party (PDP) governor lost his governorship to an All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) challenger.
According to a report by Tajudeen Sulaiman in Kano, entitled "Upset in Kano", published in "The News", Lagos, "Kwankwaso's (PDP) administration had electrified and brought portable water to almost every village in the rural areas, and had instituted a welfare scheme whereby rural women received up to N5, 000 every month to run small scale business." (Called the "Women Empowerment Programme".)
Yet, although Governor Kwankwaso (PDP) had achieved much in terms of development, he had, according to his ANPP challenger Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau (who is second only to Buhari himself as an ANPP ideologue and flag-bearer) been "dishonest in the implementation of Sharia."
Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau campaigned for the governorship of Kano on a hardline, full-implementation of Sharia platform. During his campaign rallies in Kano city, chants of "Allahu Akbar" would rent the air. He had no money to fund his campaign, and he relied almost totally on the support of Islamic clerics and proponents of Sharia, particularly the Hisba Committee (Vanguards of Sharia Implementation in Kano) who campaigned for him.
Reporter Tajudeen Sulaiman goes on to say, "Buhari and his campaigners exploited the religious sentiments of ordinary Northern Muslims. Those campaigning for PDP and Obasanjo were labelled as non-believers who did not deserve the vote of 'good Muslims.' ANPP campaigners in Kano went about with megaphones calling on Muslims to see the gubernatorial elections as a jihad." (Link 2)
RESULTS AND RESPONSE
Kano voted overwhelmingly for the ANPP in Federal elections, for Buhari for President, for an ANPP pro-Sharia state governor (Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau) and for an ANPP dominated state parliament.
As the results of the federal parliamentary elections trickled out and it became ever clearer that the PDP would not only retain federal power but hold control both houses of federal parliament, tension rose amongst Buhari / ANPP supporters.
Buhari fuelled the flames with denouncements and a rejection of the results, declaring, "This would be the first election in which, through elaborate collusion, those who lost elections were declared winners and those who won lost," and highly inflammatory remarks about the "massive and state organized rape on democracy," and threats of "mass action." By the time the presidential polls were being held on 19 April, tensions were at boiling point in the ANPP / Buhari stronghold of Kano.
When the presidential and governorship results were announced on the evening of 21 April, Kano's Muslims came out onto the streets to celebrate Shekarau's win as Kano's new pro-Sharia governor. (Link3)
By 4:15am, the home of pastor Chikezie (Sunday) Madumere was alight. The Madumere home was located in an area of Kano city known as "no man's land." Obed Minchak, reporting for Compass Direct, described Pastor Madumere as "a zealous Christian preacher. known for his powerful preaching, which has led many Muslims in Kano to convert to the Christian faith."
The Compass Direct 7 May news release said, "Observers believe the conversions may have angered Muslim militants in the city and they decided to eliminate him.
"Police authorities say the fire may have been caused by an electrical fault. Christian leaders, however, have ruled out that theory, insisting that the pastor and his family were victims of
religious intolerance."
--------------------
With Buhari continuing his inflammatory rhetoric, rejecting the results and demanding re-elections threatening, "Otherwise there will be no government by 30 May," we should expect Kano to become increasingly unsettled and hostile.
Renowned Muslim cleric, Alhaji Surajudeen Asukuna, described Buhari's outbursts as "provocative, un-Islamic and capable of setting the country on fire...capable of truncating the nation's nascent democracy."
The "middle belt" of central Nigeria voted overwhelmingly for Obasanjo, because Buhari was seen as a lackey of a religious group; as a tribalist and a religious leader. Most Nigerians, Christians and Muslims alike, did not want that for Nigeria. But as discontent and anger escalates in "Buhariland" (the northern Sharia states) - Kano will certainly be the state to watch and pray over.
The Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria (SCSN) has called for the establishment of a new Shariah implementation Committee in Kano State to expedite the full implementation of Sharia. (Link 4)
- Elizabeth Kendal
LINKS
1) Pastor, Six Others Die in Fire Outbreak
Daily Trust (Abuja) 23 April 2003
http://allafrica.com/stories/200304230568.html
2) "Upset in Kano" By Tajudeen Sulaiman in Kano
The News (Lagos) 5 May 2003
http://allafrica.com/stories/200305050343.html
3) "Nigeria's powerful new governors"
By Joseph Winter
BBC News Online, Abuja, 22 April 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2967881.stm
4) "SCSN Calls for New Shariah C'ttee"
By Jamilah Nuhu Musa
Daily Trust (Abuja) 30 April 2003
http://allafrica.com/stories/200304300688.html