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NIGERIA: Archbishop slams media reports of religious civil war following attacks on churches
By Eva-Maria Kolmann and John Newton
Archbishop John Olurunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, who rejected calls to divide the country into two independent religious states following recent violence by extremists
One of Nigeria’s leading bishops has condemned the media for portraying recent violence in the country as a civil war between Muslims and Christians.
Archbishop John Olurunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja criticised news reports that described Nigeria as descending into ongoing religious violence.
His interview with Aid to the Church in Need followed five separate bomb attacks across Nigeria on Christmas Day, killing at least 40 people, and clashes between the Nigerian military and Boko Haram, an extremist Islamist group which claimed responsibility for the explosions.
More than 50 people were also killed when a group of people from Ezza ethnic group attacked members of neighboring Ezilo group over a land dispute in the country’s south-eastern Ebonyi state over the New Year – which some reports have described as a religious conflict.
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Archbishop Onaiyekan went on to reject calls to divide the West African country into two independent religious states, describing the idea as senseless and set to plunge the country into deeper crisis.
He said: “It is, in any case, crazy to speak of an Islamic north and a Christian south.
“Many families even consist of half Muslims and half Christians. Nigeria cannot be divided according to religion.
“Christians and Muslims go to school, to the market and to work together, and they serve together in the army. The places where they live now are where they grew up.
“One cannot suddenly resettle all the Muslims in the north and all the Christians in the south and divide up the country.”
Archbishop Onaiyekan described Boko Haram as “terrorists who cause problems for anyone in Nigeria who stands in their way.
“They claim to act in the name of Islam, but the killing of innocents is contradictory to Islam.”
He told Aid to the Church in Need that eight imams from mosques in Abuja visited him following the attacks to express their condolences. He said he had also received many letters of sympathy from Muslims.
With the media carrying reports of Nigerian Christians arming themselves following the attacks, Archbishop Onaiyekan called on all believers to refrain from violence, saying: “Jesus Christ would not want us to retaliate.”
He said that it was equally wrong of the media to present Christians as either helpless or as “being prepared to defend themselves with armed force” as some reports have suggested.
The archbishop asked Christians throughout the world to pray for peace in Nigeria.