President speaks to the nation

President Olusegun Obasanjo addressed the nation late Wednesday and called for reconciliation following recent sectarian violence in Nigeria that has left hundreds dead.

“We must rid ourselves of the mentality of murderousness that stems from fear and suspicion of the other person. We must rediscover the value of dialogue,” he said. Addressing investors in the Nigerian economy, he described the clashes between Muslims and Christians as “a hiccup” which would be put behind them and allow Nigeria to “move full steam ahead”.

The violence in the northern city of Kaduna began on 21 February following a march organised by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to protest the proposed introduction of Islamic law in the state of Kaduna. The clashes, which resulted in over 400 deaths, created an atmosphere of fear and mistrust between people who had formerly been neighbours and some, mainly southerners packed their belongings and left the city.

“Many people, mainly women and children, are travelling to safe places to monitor the situation,” Fabian Okoye, the director of research and publications of Human Rights Monitor in Kaduna, told IRIN on Thursday. He added that although there had been no clashes since Friday and the heavy army presence had been drastically reduced, people were still apprehensive. “Some markets have reopened but in the main business district, no serious work is going on, people report in the morning and leave at lunchtime,” Okoye said. A 06:00 pm to 07:00 am (17:00-06:00 GMT) curfew is still in place.

Over 400 people are also believed to have died in clashes between Muslims and Christians in the southeastern city of Aba on Monday, according to Reuters. The victims in Aba appear to be northern Hausas, who are almost all Muslim, killed by mainly Christian Igbos from the southeast in reprisal for the deaths of scores of Igbos in the northern city of Kaduna last week, news organisations reported. Meanwhile reprisal violence spread to Uyo in the southeastern state of Akwa Ibom on Tuesday where youths torched properties believed to belong to Muslims, ‘The Guardian’ reported.

Obasanjo, responding to criticisms that he had not sent troops in immediately to Kaduna, said that the normal procedure is to wait for the governor to indicate that the police force is unable to contain the disturbances. “Once that request came from the deputy governor, I immediately ordered the troops should move in to support the police and took necessary measures to put an end to the killings and destruction in that city and its environments,” he said.

According to Okoye, a lot of people welcomed the president’s speech, but others said it should have come earlier.