Anne Penketh, "Nigerian Christians
Accused of 'Genocide'," Independent, May 7, 2004
[For Mr Lipdo, the villagers are the face of a "new Darfur" - victims of a
"violent Muslim expansion". He is among those who see this as part of a
world-wide Islamic advance. But this is only his truth. Jos is the capital
of Nigeria's fertile "middle belt", a highland plateau where missionaries
converted animist farmers to Christianity. Tin deposits were later found in
the area and the colonial government brought Hausa Muslim labourers from
further north. Jos and its satellite villages have been mixed and
metropolitan ever since. . . .
Politics here have been poisoned by the distinction between the
longer-standing Christians, or "indigenes", and Muslim "settlers". The
former are favoured in land rights, the latter denied the opportunity to
stand in elections. This has caused resentment, which has erupted in 2001,
2004 and 2008, leaving thousands dead, many more displaced and the city
polarised.--Daniel Howden, "'They herded us
into one place and started chopping with machetes...'," Independent,
March 13, 2010]
[Africa's most populous country and leading oil producer is beset by
multiple crises, from attacks by armed militants in the Niger Delta to
sectarian massacres in its central region and a protracted struggle for the
presidency in the capital, Abuja.--Daniel Howden, "Nigeria is falling
apart, says Nobel prize-winning author," Independent, March 16, 2010]
[The fighting falls broadly along ethnic lines, with the mostly Christian
Berom group against the largely Muslim Hausa and Fulani groups.
The Hausa and Fulani are officially deemed settlers in Plateau State, even
though some have lived here for generations, and say that as a result they
are excluded from political office. . . .
Political office is prized throughout Nigeria - holders of such jobs can
grant lucrative public contracts to their allies and access oil revenues in
what is sub-Saharan Africa's biggest energy producer.--Shyamantha Asokan,
"Quietly, the Christian-Muslim
killing continues in Nigeria," Christian Science Monitor, May 25,
2010]
[Boko Haram regards the Nigerian state as being run by non-believers, even
when the country had a Muslim president.--Farouk Chothia, "Who are Nigeria's
Boko Haram Islamists?," BBC African Service, August 26, 2011]