Sharia-related killings and carnage in Kaduna reenact deadly prologue to Nigeria-Biafra war of 1967
The killing of an estimated 750 Nigerians (mostly Igbo Christians, other south easterners and some Yorubas) and wanton destruction of property generated and spawned by the Islamic Sharia laws and demonstrations against it Kaduna by Christians in northern Nigeria have set Nigeria on a perilous course. It has caused what many say is the retaliatory assault and death of 55 others, mainly northern Nigerians in the area. The fact that this fighting between Christians and Muslims has reached the Igbo heartland of Aba is a major cause for worry; as regards the overall state of security and stability of the country. To be sure, Aba, is the pulse point of any strong-willed, robust resistance and activism in south eastern Nigeria, especially, in Igbo land. I was born in that commercial city of entrepreneurial quests and historic, nationalist struggles.
The initial killings in Kaduna have forced thousands of Igbos, many of whose kith and kin were killed in the late February 2000 Sharia conflicts, to flee the northern region, in what seems a reenactment and familiar pictures which preceded the 1966-1970 civil war and declaration of the Peoples Republic of Biafra. According to the AP "The trouble began when the corpses of local people were shipped home from Kaduna, where battles between Christians and Muslims killed at least 300 people last week. Local residents in Aba, furious over the deaths, attacked Muslim Hausas who live in the town and burned the mosque."
NigeriaCentral.com and USAfrica The Newspaper reporters note that many of them, with other south easterners are leaving in huge numbers from the predominantly-Islamic Katsina, the commercial city of Kano and the city of Kaduna (where the latest Sharia-related violence erupted). Many of them have lived in those cities for well over 28 years; some long before the civil war. Ikenna Israel Obidigbo, a 65-year Igbo businessman told USAfricaonline.com reporter that his decision to "move finally" derived from the Igbo adage which instructs that "it is only a tree trunk which stays in the face of an axe wielding murderer. My brothers were killed in 1966; another one was brutally cut on February 24. What am I really doing here? We've had enough." He sighed, and continued another effort to relocate among his kith and kin. He shut his successful motor-parts and groceries shop to seek "safety of my children and my dependents."
Mrs. Mary Okoronkwo, an Igbo resident in Kaduna told USAfricaonline.com that "We're a part of this community. We support the people and have contributed to its development. Suddenly, our neighbors turned against us. With knives and guns, they started attacking us. Three of my family members are dead. Why? Why?"
Ibrahim Yusuf, a school teacher and a Muslim, condemned "the cycle of violence. You better believe Islam is not a religion for the violent. Some hooligans are responsible for these horrible killings of other Nigerians. It's unfortunate this has forced many of my Igbo friends to leave." Most of them have gone to the banks to withdraw their savings, paying doubled transportation fares, and hurriedly abandoning assorted investments. For millions, a garish and painful reminder of the vents of 1966 when an initial 23,000 Igbos and other easterners were killed in Kano, Kaduna, and other major cities of the largely Muslim northern Nigeria. As the civil war raged, almost 1.8 million Igbos were killed, and an estimated 100,000 Nigerians (mainly soldiers) lost their lives.
Meanwhile, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), has accused Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, himself a retired army General, for failing to act decisively to halt the violence or even make any categorical statement on the controversial issue of Sharia. "No doubt, the Obasanjo-led administration is to be held solely responsible for the senseless carnage in Kaduna," in a statement signed signed by Chris Fajemifo, the publicity secretary of CDHR. He cautioned that Nigeria's Christians and Moslems in should realize the country is still "a secular state."
The leader of the Biafra republic, then Gen. Odumegwu Emeka Ojukwu spoke about similar circumstances which caused the declaration of the short-lived but remarkable republic of Biafra during an exclusive USAfricaonline.com and NigeriaCentral.com interview. Recently, on the 30th anniversary of the formal folding of Biafra's fight for survival, he warned that "None of the problems that caused the (Biafra-Nigeria) war has been solved. None.''
Reuters correspondent in Kano, Mike Oboh, notes that "Disaffection has grown further since President Olusegun Obasanjo &endash; a civil war commander on the government side &endash; took office last May to end 15 years of military rule. Although he won massive electoral support from the southeast he is accused by many Igbos of favoring candidates from Nigeria's other regions in key appointments. Last year Igbo leaders demanded $87 billion in government compensation for both the damage caused by the civil war and years of subsequent marginalization."
In the wake of the brutal killings and burning of buildings over the introduction of the Islamic traditional Sharia laws, the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) warned that its members will retaliate against Hausas/northerners (especially those who live in the southern part of the Nigeria). According to the MASSOB's leader Ralph Uwazuruike, several killing of Igbos, and destruction of their property in the Kaduna should not be taken lightly. He said that "Igbos resident in Kaduna, in particular, and the North in general, should use every amount of force available to defend themselves, with any ammunition in their possession as was done in Kano during the (late Gen. Sani) Abacha regime."
From Washington D.C., U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright said her country "continue to be very concerned about what is going on and believe that this kind of violence is counter to what President Obasanjo needs to do in order to be able to take his country through this important transition.... We are talking to the Nigerians and hope very much that he (Obasanjo), is going to be able to get control of it because it certainly is the kind of conflict that complicates his work."
Dr. Lateef Adegbite, Secretary-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has called to all concerned to heed the appeals for peace. "Some other states have peacefully adopted new laws on Sharia within their territories. Why should the adoption process in Kaduna State generate violence and loss of lives and properties." The Human Rights Africa (HRA), said "we strongly believe that the least the Federal Government (of Nigeria) should do to dissolve the evolving confrontations and hostile sentiments is to test the constitutionality of states' adoption of Sharia in our court, especially with contradictory legal opinion being proffered in recent times." Similarly, the pan-Igbo organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, called on President Olusegun Obasanjo to uphold Nigeria's Constitution, especially in Section 10 which states that "government of the federation or of a state shall not adopt any religion as state religion." The statement was released by its Secretary General and world famous scholar on constitutionalism, Professor Ben Nwabueze (SAN).
President Obasanjo, a Christian from the southwest Yoruba, held a meeting February 29, of the Council of State, including all of Nigeria's 36 state governors, top security officials and federal politicians. Vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, a Muslim from the north, has announced that "In order to restore normalcy and create confidence among all communities it was decided and agreed that as far as Sharia is concerned we will now revert to the status quo." Essentially, the Sharia law would be suspended in three states - Zamfara, Niger and Sokoto.
The reaction of the fundamentalist elements and traditionalists
who demand an "all Sharia or nothing" approach. With the latest
development, Nigeria's transition to civilian rule has been put on
its most critical and combustible test. How the civilian class
handles this constitutional and religious issue will define, to a
large measure, the stability and future of ethnic
relations in the country of 110 million.
Chido
Nwangwu, Founder & Publisher of the Houston-based
USAfricaonline.com, USAfrica The Newspaper, The Black Business
Journal, BBJonline.com,
and NigeriaCentral.com,
is the recipient of the Journalism Excellence Award, HABJ 1997, and
adviser on international business (Africa) to Mayor Lee P. Brown,
city of Houston, Texas. He is writing a book on the experiences of
recent African immigrants in the U.S. He also covered U.S President
Bill Clinton's visit to parts of Africa, March-April, 1998.
(Additional reports from USAfricaonline
and NigeriaCentral
reporters and agency reports). February 29, 2000
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'Biafra:
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