Muslims, Christians agree peace pact in Kaduna

Muslims and Christians in the northern Nigerian state of Kaduna have signed a peace pact to end violent clashes which have claimed thousands of lives in the past three years, officials said on Friday. The peace agreement, signed on Thursday by representatives of the national Muslim body, Ja'amatul Nasir Islam, and the Christian Association of Nigeria, was brokered by the Kaduna State government, Abdul Magaji, a senior Kaduna government official, told IRIN. More than 2,000 people died in violence which broke out between Christians and Muslims in Kaduna city in 2000, following a dispute over plans by the state government to introduce Islamic or Shari'ah law. Unlike most states in northern Nigeria, which have predominantly Muslim populations, Kaduna State has fairly equal numbers of Christians and Muslims. Tension remained high after the initial clashes but was largely defused after the state governor, Ahmed Makarfi, introduced a milder form of Shari'ah, the application of which was limited to Muslim communities. "We are committed to ending the violence and bloodshed that marred our recent history," reads part of the text of the peace agreement. "We believe Nigeria belongs to both Muslims and Christians, who must learn to accommodate each other in peace." Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with 120 million people is divided almost evenly into a largely Muslim north and non-Muslim south.