29th December, 2010
Is Nigeria on the verge of a religious war? A statement by a new radical Mulsim group seems to suggest so. The group that styles itself Jama’Atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda Awati Wal Jihad has claimed responsibility for the Christmas eve bombings in Jos, the Plateau State capital, that left over 80 people dead and at least 189 people injured. The group, led by Abu Mohammed, alias Abubakar Bin Mohammed Shekau, is rallying Muslims against those it described as “disbelievers and their allies†in retaliation of the alleged atrocities committed against Muslims in Jos, and Nigeria in general.
Although security agencies have dismissed the emergence of this group that may have links with Al-Qaeda as phantom, we are worried that law enforcement agencies are always caught napping when religious fanatics strike. Even more worrisome is that the Plateau State government had got wind of the plot to disrupt the Christmas celebrations in Jos and passed the information to the security agencies but nothing was done to prevent it.
It was unimaginable that even with the heavy presence of security operatives in Jos following previous attacks by members the Boko Haram sect that left hundreds of people dead, the religious fundamentalists succeeded in planting the bombs that wreaked havoc in Jos again on Christmas eve. Boko Haram members have been blamed for a series of recent shootings of police officers and community leaders, as well as attacks on police posts and a prison in the north.
Jos has remained a theatre of bloodshed because those who perpetrated similar mayhem in the past were not brought to book.
The claim by the State Governor, Jonah Jang that the attacks may be politically motivated may not be far-fetched. Why has it been so difficult to prosecute all the masterminds of previous attacks that left a huge death toll in their wake? Why can’t the sacred cows be unmasked?
We want the Federal Government to deploy all the resources at its disposal to stem the tide of religious violence in Jos, Maiduguri, Bauchi and other major cities in the north. The threat posed by the new sect that has claimed responsibility for the latest Jos attacks deserves maximum force to stop the group from committing greater atrocities in the country.
We may continue to weep profusely and talk tough from now till eternity but peace may elude Jos if we do not follow it up with concrete measures. Perhaps residents of the predominantly Muslim north and the mainly Christian south should be separated along these lines as a lasting solution to the frequent ethnic and religious friction in this hitherto peaceful area.
Although many attribute the unrest in Jos to the struggle for economic and political power between the indigenous ethnic group in the region known as the Christian Beroms, and the Hausa-Fulani Muslims, perceived as the more recent arrivals, the scale of human lives lost and the properties destroyed during the clashes is shocking and senseless. This orgy of bloodletting must stop now.
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