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NIGERIA
Religious clashes continueHundreds die in Christian-Muslim fighting
Late in May witnesses in northern Nigeria reported that several hundred people had been killed in fighting between Christians and Muslims, and that at least 100 have been buried in a mass grave.
Observers also reported that hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed in the parts of Kaduna that saw the heaviest fighting. Police said they gathered the dead from three hospitals in Kaduna and placed them in a grave dug beside the road to the new airport because they were mutilated beyond recognition.
The violence began when Christians in the neighborhood of Narayi blamed Muslims for the killing of a local man. They responded by attacking a Muslim neighborhood, which in turn prompted retaliatory attacks by Muslims against Christian targets. Religious clashes in the region had begun in February, when proposals surfaced for the implementation of Islamic Shari’a law in Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim northern states. Those earlier clashes had also cost hundreds of lives, and left tensions simmering until the latest eruption.
As an uneasy peace again descended on the region, the Diocese of Kaduna revealed that a priest had been murdered by Muslim extremists during the days of violence, and a bounty had been placed on the head of all Catholic priests. The diocesan spokesman, Father Peter Yakubu, said Father Clement Ozi Bello, who had been ordained just last year, was stopped as he drove to his parish and dragged from his car by a mob. Father Yakubu said the assailants tied up Father Ozi Bello, gouged out his eyes, and then killed him. He noted that Father Ozi Bello was from a Muslim family and had converted to Christianity. Father Yakubu added that the diocese had become aware of a bounty placed by Muslim extremists, offering $1,000 for each priest killed in Kaduna.