Gwada, a town in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, is hit by violence, set off by bottled up ethno-religious tension
By Nnnamdi Felix/Gwada
It was a classic explosion of deep-seated animosity. For months, tension had built between the predominantly Muslim Hausa elements of Gwada and the town’s Christian community, largely made up of the Gwari ethnic group. And on 13 April, violence erupted, following a motorcycle accident in the town. Sources in Gwada said some Muslim youths seized the opportunity to vent their spleen on the Christian community, which also has some Igbo and Yoruba traders as members.
The Igbo and Yoruba traders were the worst hit, as their shops and homes were looted and burnt.
The crisis began when the Boys’ Brigade Band of the Evangelical Church of West Africa, ECWA, was leading the procession of Christian children, who were expected to be joined by adults, to “Galilee” as part of the Easter celebrations. This, however, was said to have displeased an unidentified Hausa youth on a motorbike. The youth was said to grown impatient at the procession, which moved slowly and denied him the chance to ride through.
In his haste, he rode through the procession and knocked down a member of the Boys’ Brigade Band. Rather than help the accident victim, Christian sources alleged, the Hausa youth flogged the boy and destroyed one of the band’s drums. Three other Hausa youths arrived the scene on motorbikes and joined in the vandalisation of the musical instruments of the band.
This drew a response from the Christian youths, as they sought to protect the kids under their watch. That was the torch paper. Soon, other Muslims arrived and quickly mobilised their colleagues to start attacking churches and homes of Christians.
Since last May, TheNEWS gathered, the two religious groups have had a fractious relationship, following the compensation paid by the Shiroro Local Government Chairman, Alhaji Goggo Erena, to some Christians whose pigs were slaughtered by Muslims. The Muslims had alleged that the pigs desecrated tombs at the Muslim cemetery.
The Hausa community was said to have slaughtered hundreds of pigs, including those being reared in homes.
Secretary to the Shiroro Local council, Suleiman Ibrahim Kato, told this medium that he believed some Muslim hoodlums, who were disenchanted with the payment of compensation to the Christian pig owners, hijacked the motorbike incident to unleash mayhem.
Reverend Dauda Maigari, Chairman, state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, said Christians are always targeted any time there is a crisis in the Northern part of the country.
CAN Secretary in the state, Reverend Samuel Shaba, blamed the resurgence of the crisis on the non-prosecution of those who killed Christians’ pigs. He told this medium that those arrested by the Police last year were released.
Shaba conveyed the displeasure of the state’s chapter of CAN over the incident to the Secretary of the Local Government Area.
He followed this up with a threat to mobilise Christians in Gwada for self-help if those behind the latest spell of violence are not fished out and prosecuted by the Police.
“It has become worrisome to the Christian community in both Niger State and the nation at large that Christians are always left losers in any crisis in the North. This matter cannot be said to be a political matter; it is a religious matter, otherwise the homes of politicians should be torched and not those of peace-loving Christians. Only Christian properties are torched. If this happens again, we will retaliate. If you fail to prosecute those behind it, we will resort to self help,” Shaba fumed.
This was also communicated to the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in charge of Kuta, under which Gwada falls. But the DPO advised CAN against resorting to self-help, stating that the Police command was on top of the situation. He also reassured CAN officials that perpetrators of the mayhem will be fished out and punished accordingly and urged the Christian community to assist the Police in fishing out those responsible.
Mr. Mark Libtip, Coordinator of Stafanos Foundation, an NGO dedicated to the service of persecuted Christians, slated the Local Government administration for the non-disbursement of relief materials to the victims of the crisis. He called on the government to take steps that would lessen the victims’ pains.
Libtip called on the Police to arrest the situation by ensuring that culprits are brought to book. This, he reckons, will stop reprisal plans by Christians.
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