NIGERIA: Were village attacks revenge for January violence?
By John Newton
A map of Nigeria, where violent attacks have broken out in recent months
Watch an interview with John Newton of Aid to the Church in Need about the violence in Nigeria
The Archbishop of Jos has released a report suggesting recent attacks in his diocese were reprisals for violence earlier this year.
According to the report by Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama, the attacks on villages in Plateau State appeared to be reprisals for January’s riots in Jos, in which more than 250 people lost their lives.
The archbishop said many people believed the attackers in the most recent incident were Fulani Muslims from neighbouring Bauchi State.
More than 100 people were killed in early morning raids in the villages of Dogon Nahawa, Ratsat and Zot Foron – located about 10 miles south of state capital Jos – which took place on Sunday, 7th March.
The report, which was sent to charities supporting projects in Nigeria including Aid to the Church in Need, said: “The villagers of the Berom ethnic group (mainly Christians) alleged that their attackers were Fulani Muslim herdsmen who swooped on them while they slept.
“The attack which lasted more than two hours began at about 2:30 am and the victims were completely unprepared for the fury of the marauders.
“The free use of guns, cutlasses and other lethal weapons left little chance for the victims, mainly children and women, who were hacked down and burnt as they attempted to escape the massacre.”
The report told how one resident of Dogon Nahawa, Peter Jang, described the attackers shooting in the air to bring people out of their houses – and when the villagers came out, they started shooting at them, attacking them with machetes and similar weapons, and burning their homes.
The attackers left so quickly that neither villagers from the surrounding area nor police were able to organise themselves in time to stop their escape.
The archbishop said people feared further attacks in Jos and Bukuru.
He also wrote: “Military personnel have been deployed to control the situation, while top level peace talks calling for rational reasoning are being held at several levels in the search for peace.”
A Peace Conference organised by Jos’s Institute of Governance and Social Research, in collaboration with the British Department for International Development (DFID) and the Plateau State Government, went ahead on Monday, 8th March.
Members included serving and retired security officials, government ministers and religious and community leaders as well as three former Nigeria heads of State: General Yakubu Gowon, Alhaji Shehu Shagari and Chief Ernest Shonekan.
Archbishop Kaigama, who was present as the co-chairman for the Inter-religious Council for Peace and Harmony, stressed the social, ethnic, economic and political causes of the violence.
The archbishop is also a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Jos crisis – set up by the Acting President, Doctor Goodluck Jonathan – which is investigating how to prevent future violence.
At the end of his report Archbishop Kaigama said the archdiocese would organise a Mass of solidarity to pray with and for those affected by the recent attacks.
The Mass will be held on Friday, 19th March at Saint Jarlath’s Parish Church in Bukuru – where people suffered badly during the recent attacks.