The militant Islamist group Boko Haram issued an ultimatum on Sunday 1st January giving Christians living in northern Nigeria three days to leave the area. This followed a number of attacks by the militants on churches and other targets over Christmas leaving more than 40 people dead.
The ultimatum by Boko Haram intensifies the threat to christians in the muslim-majority North, parts of which are under a state of emergency after the violence.
As well as attacks on churches and targeted assassinations, recent weeks have seen an escalation in clashes between Boko Haram and security forces in the north-eastern states of Borno and Yobe.
Human rights activist Shehu Sani told CNN that the latest Boko Haram threat was credible, but many christians born and raised in the north have nowhere else to go. “The killings will continue," he said.
David Cook of Rice University, who has studied the rise of Boko Haram, told CNN that "if radical Muslim violence on a systematic level were to take hold in Nigeria ... it could eventually drive the country into a civil war."
Other attacks
The latest attacks follow many previous incidents, including:
- On 6 November 2011, 150 people were killed by Boko Haram in a series of bombings and shootings in Damaturu, capital of Yobe state.
- On 17 January 2010, Islamists attacked worshippers at a church in Jos Jarawa. It was reported that Muslim soldiers deployed to control the violence joined in the attacks against local Christians.
- On 7 March 2010, extremists attacked Dogo-Nahawa, leaving over 500 people brutally murdered. Many were decapitated, scalped and had their hands and feet cut off. Survivors told The Times that entire families were killed, some to chants of Allahu Akbar.
- On 17 March 2010, Islamists attacked the village of Dogo na hauwa, leaving fifteen houses burnt, eight people killed and four admitted to hospital. The mutilated victims included four children and three women.
- On 3 July 2010 there were attacks at Chawai, where seven people were killed, and at Wukari, where thirty three people were killed.
Background to the unrest
Islam spread into Nigeria from the north from the late middle ages. The north is now predominantly Muslim, while the south is predominantly Christian. Many fear that these attacks demonstrate a renewed effort by some Muslim extremists to make Islam the dominant religion throughout Nigeria.
Since 1999, starting with Zamfara, twelve of the northern Nigerian states have implemented Sharia law, and this has coincided with these regular, violent outbreaks. In that year, northern Muslim political and religious leaders established the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria, an organisation designed to promote the adoption of Sharia in other Nigerian states.
On 21 February 2000, violent clashes broke out in the city of Kaduna, the second largest in northern Nigeria, following a march by tens of thousands of Christians to protest against the proposal to introduce sharia law as the criminal code throughout Kaduna State. Unusually for a northern state, Kaduna has roughly equal numbers of Christians and Muslims. It was reported that more than four hundred people were killed as a result of the clashes.
Under sharia, non-Muslims are barred from being judges, prosecutors, and lawyers in the courts to which they may be subject. In some states Muslims are now subject to sharia even if they prefer civil courts that provided protections under Nigeria's bill of rights.
Andrea Williams, CEO of Christian Concern, said:
"We need to pray for all of those who are suffering from this violence. We need to highlight their cause and campaign on their behalf. Please pray and support the Love Jos campaign and other groups working for our persecuted brothers and sisters.”
Links
CNN: Islam terror group tells Christians: Leave north Nigeria or be attacked