IRIN Focus on ethnic and religious conflicts in 2001// Year ender//

Nigeria continued this year to reap a grim harvest of ethnic and religious violence, as it had in 2000, which began with clashes that claimed over 2,000 lives in the northern city of Kaduna, and ended with fighting in Lagos in which hundreds died. In January 2001, while the government was issuing estimates showing it had spent more than US $5 million in the previous 10 months to provide relief supplies for victims of religious riots and ethnic unrest, fresh alerts were being issued of a likely outbreak of violence in Lagos. After a meeting in January, Nigerian Catholic bishops called for a summit of Christian and Muslim leaders to seek ways to deal with the religious causes of the violence, particularly the introduction of strict Islamic law in predominantly Muslim states in northern Nigeria. But before their call could be heeded, Muslim vigilantes in the northern city of Kano burned a truck laden with alcoholic drinks, in late February. Over the next two months, there were frequent reports that the vigilantes attacked hotels suspected of serving alcohol to guests. By April signs that Nigeria’s central region would be a hot-bed of violence began to emerge. The first clashes reported - between Tivs and their Hausa-speaking Azeri neighbours - claimed about a dozen lives in Nasarawa State. A similar number of people died in skirmishes in nearby Plateau State, mainly involving indigenous Christians and Muslims settlers from the far north. Further north in Bauchi State, the mainly Christian communities of Tafawa Balewa local council were up in arms against moves by authorities of the Muslim-majority state to impose the Sharia. Many analysts blame the ferment now brewing in the central region on deepening mutual suspicion between Muslims and non-Muslims, largely fuelled by the introduction of Sharia in an increasing number of northern states. "Many of the communities in the central region successfully resisted Islamisation both in the pre-colonial and colonial eras, despite the authority ceded to the Muslim emirates by the British," James Ibrahim, a political analyst from the region, told IRIN. "Many of these communities now perceive the introduction of Sharia as a resurgence of Islamisation and have taken the stance of aggressive resistance." Ethnic and religious violence reached a new peak in June/July in Nasarawa State, after an Azeri traditional and spiritual leader was attacked and killed by unknown gunmen. Suspecting the attackers to be Tiv, the Azeris launched reprisal attacks. What began initially as a land dispute escalated into widespread ethnic war. Hundreds of people were killed while more than 50,000 displaced Tivs fled Nasarawa for neighbouring Benue State, where they are the majority. Another eruption of violence between Christians and Muslims, sparked by a minor incident outside a mosque, occurred in September in Jos, Plateau State's predominantly Christian capital. Scores of houses were destroyed. The Nigerian Red Cross reported at least 500 deaths in three days of clashes. Other violent developments were by now taking shape in Taraba State, in the east of the central region. Long standing hostilities between the Jukun and Fulani communities on the one hand, and the Tivs on the other, were revived - no doubt spurred by the generalised violence in the region. Early in October, the federal authorities deployed troops on the border between Taraba and Benue states in an attempt to quell the growing unrest. It was a mission that went wrong. Tiv militiamen, alleging attacks by men dressed in military uniforms, ambushed a contingent of 22 soldiers near the town of Vaase. A few days later, the mutilated bodies of 19 of the soldiers were found in a primary school in the nearby town of Zaki-Biam. By 22 October, soldiers ordered by President Obasanjo to track down the Tiv militiamen had rampaged through several communities in apparent reprisal attacks, killing about 300 people and completely destroying seven villages and towns. When these were added to those killed in the fighting between the original adversaries, more than 1,000 people were estimated to have died. According to figures released by the Benue State government, more than half a million people, mainly Tivs, were displaced. The disturbances, occurring in a region reputed to be Nigeria’s main breadbasket, also posed a threat to the country’s food security. In the same month there was another outbreak of ethnic and religious violence in Kano, where a protest by Muslim radicals against the US bombardment of Afghanistan following the 11 September terrorist attacks, degenerated into violence between Muslims and Christians, northerners and southerners. Scores of people were killed and dozens of houses razed in three days of fighting that was only brought under control with the deployment of troops. Apart from sending in the troops, another significant response by Obasanjo to ethnic and religious crises threatening Nigeria’s unity was the setting up of a special commission to investigate the causes of widespread unrest in the country of 120 million people, Africa's most populous nation. The commission’s brief includes recommending ways to make Nigeria's more than 250 ethnic groups live in peace. "Peace and security are fundamental foundation stones on which democracy and development can and need to be anchored," Obasanjo said.