Corpses on ground in Jos, March 8, 2010; photo CSW Nigeria

Nigeria: Archbishop believes new law is the cause of conflict

The Archbishop of Jos, Nigeria Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama has said that the introduction of Shariah law is the cause of tensions between Christians and Muslims, reports CISA.

The 51-year-old Archbishop Kaigama suspects there are other motives below the surface of the tensions erupting into violence.

Archbishop Kaigama says in an interview, “there is this propaganda of both Islam and Christianity; every religion wants to control, more or less, the whole system and therefore there is that competition, and when the Shariah, for instance, was introduced recently, the Christians felt threatened.”

Since the introduction of the Shariah in its present form, there has been great tension, there has been an uneasy relationship and this has erupted into violence sometimes. These are testimonies to the fact that there have been a lot of religious crises in Nigeria and most of these have occurred in the north.

The archbishop believes that the crises seem to have been brought by the introduction of Shariah adding that since the introduction of Shariah recently, Christians feel threatened because they are the minority and they have lost much.

If, for example, your business is selling drinks, the Shariah does not allow that, so you lose your business. Even the mode of dressing and freedom of worship and religion is threatened so Christians have a reason to be very worried and that is why some have left the area of their residence and some have closed business because some of them were not sure what was going to happen.

Violence could erupt at any moment and so to prevent that, they have left and closed business that is how it has been.

He says in the state of Zamfara, for example, men and women are obliged to travel on separate public transport and the dress code is Islamic. So, there is a real social pressure that is applied to Christians with the Islamic law?

In the southern part of Nigeria where it is still predominantly Christian, it is possible for a Muslim to convert to Christianity; but in the north, it is not possible for a Muslim to convert to Christianity.

Right now as I talk to you I have so many churches in the Jos Archdiocese that have been destroyed. We have been struggling for the past five to six years to rebuild them. So you can destroy the churches but you can't destroy the Christian spirit in us, and this is what we continue to do.

We tell our Christians to stand up for your faith. We encourage our Christians to avoid revenge, to avoid violence; we always preach the culture of non-violence, and that is what our faith calls us to.

Over 300 churches have been destroyed in four years.

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TAGS: Nigeria Archbishop of Jos Ignatius Kaigama Shariah law tensions between Christians and Muslims Jos violence persecution

[03/18/2010]

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