Middle belt vows to stay free of religious conflict

Caught between a north-south divide on the issue of Sharia law, people in central Nigerian states say they will no longer be a tool for any section of the country in pursuit of “myopic objectives”, ‘The Guardian’ newspaper reported on Thursday.

The Middle Belt Progressive Movement said it was determined to ensure that what it called the northern oligarchy would not use the introduction of Sharia law to derail Nigeria’s nascent democratic government.

The movement’s members come from the Middle Belt states of Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Kwara, Plateau, Niger, Taraba, Adamawa and Gombe, as well as parts of Bauchi, Borno, Yobe, Kaduna, Kebbi and the Federal Capital Territory.

In a recent meeting, the newspaper said, they condemned former heads of state Mohammadu Buhari and Shehu Shagari who have supported the right of Muslim states to introduce all aspects of Sharia law. Formerly, only the social aspects of Sharia, such as those dealing with marriage and inheritance, were practiced in the north.

Supporters of the Islamic code now want Sharia courts to be given jurisdiction to judge Muslims on criminal matters. Christians living in the north fear they will also be subject to Sharia, although the pro-Sharia lobby denies this.

Claiming they have been marginalised by northern politicians, who ruled Nigeria from independence in 1961 until May 1999, the movement has said it is mobilising the youth of the Middle Belt to ensure the area is not dominated by anyone.

In a four-page communique, the newspaper reported, the movement said that in the recent religious riots in the northern city of Kaduna and in some parts of the southeast, Christians and Muslims from the Middle Belt were killed and their houses and businesses burnt down.