ABUJA, Nigeria, FEB. 17, 2001 (Zenit.org).- The introduction of Islamic law, or Shariah, in many of the northern states of Nigeria is making life difficult for Christians.
During a recent tour of the country, the Anglican archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, declared that Christianity has been in decline in the northern state of Zamfara since the adoption of Islamic law. Carey observed that many Christians in the state had left in despair because they were unable to build churches or teach religion in schools, the BBC reported Feb. 5.
Zamfara was the first Nigerian state to impose the Islamic legal code, at the end of January 2000, which includes punishments such as stoning to death, amputation and flogging. Attempts to introduce Shariah in the neighboring state of Kaduna, with its much larger Christian population, led to terrible bloodshed last year. At least 2,000 people died in fighting between Christians and Moslems.
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, although estimates of its population range from 80 million to over 120 million. The dominant ethnic group in the northern two-thirds of the country is the Hausa-Fulani, most of whom are Muslim. The Yoruba people are predominant in the southwest. About half of the Yorubas are Christian and half Muslim. The predominantly Catholic Igbo are the largest ethnic group in the southeast.
About half of Nigerians practice Islam, with 40% following Christianity and about 10% adherents of traditional indigenous religions. The prevailing form of Islam here is Sunni. The Christian population includes Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists and a growing number of followers of evangelical Pentecostal groups. Catholics constitute the largest Christian denomination.
In February 1999, following 15 years of military rule, Olusegun Obasanjo of the centrist People´s Democratic Party (PDP) was elected president, assuming power in May that year. The PDP also won a clear majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Since independence, governmental power has alternated between inept civilians and incompetent and brutal military dictators. Much of the country´s huge oil wealth has been squandered, and gross domestic product per capita has halved in the last 20 years.
North and South divided
The conflicts between Muslims and Christians are taking place just when a Christian from the Yoruba tribe, Obasanjo, has taken office as president, the Telegraph newspaper of England reported Dec. 27. For the past 40 years, the predominantly Muslim north had provided Nigeria´s rulers, all from the Hausa-Fulani tribe.
The divisions between north and south, Muslims and Christians, are due in part to historic factors. In 1914, Nigeria became a political entity through the fusion of the northern and southern territories, thus bringing together hitherto independent groups. The British colonial powers gave the Hausa and Fulani tribes, predominately Muslim, power over the other ethnic groups, principally Christians.
In its January and February bulletins, the Christian agency Compass Direct reported extensively on the Christian-Muslim conflicts. Between 1980 and 2000, more than 30 major religious conflicts have been recorded between the two groups in northern Nigeria. Thousands of Christians and Muslims have been killed, and hundreds of church buildings have been destroyed.
At the beginning of February, Zamfara marked the first anniversary of Shariah, and according to Agence France-Presse on Feb. 4, Christians say they have been demoted to a “second-class” status.
Zamfara has been the most zealous in demanding observance of the Muslim precepts. Early last year, authorities amputated the hand of a man convicted of being a cattle thief. Last month, they flogged 100 times a young girl who became pregnant before marriage. The girl claimed she was coerced; no man was prosecuted.
Agence France-Presse quoted Father Linus Awehe, president of the Zamfara State section of the Christian Association of Nigeria, as saying, “The church in Zamfara has a lot of problems which are attributable to marginalization and religious segregation. … Here in Zamfara, Christians are treated as second-class citizens. We are not allowed to participate in government. We are not allowed to teach in schools. We are not allowed to appear on radio.”
A Feb. 7 report by the Panafrican News Agency announced that Nigeria´s northern state of Borno has set up a 25-member committee to determine how Shariah should be introduced. The Panafrican News Agency said more than a dozen of the 19 states in the Muslim north have adopted Shariah.
Reaction from Christian leaders
In view of the current religious tension in the country, church leaders have warned that there is a limit to which Christians would endure persecution. The Catholic archbishop of Lagos, Olubunmi Okogie, said a dual legal system will not work and “Nigeria is not an Islamic country.”
The Rev. Dr. Sunday Mbang said, “We as a people of this country belonging to the Christian faith have decided that Christianity is our religion and cannot overnight be forcefully made to change our faith. We shall continue to stand firm and demand respect for our religious liberty.”
Bishop Mike Okonkwo, president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, commented, “Anything whatsoever that would obstruct an atmosphere of worship and freedom in Nigeria as enshrined in the constitution will be resisted with all the power vested on us by the Almighty Jehovah.”
Persecution intensifies
Compass Direct reported Feb. 16 that Muslims have attacked Christians on a number of occasions recently. In the state of Sokoto, Muslim extremists have been targeting Christian women for rape since the introduction of the Islamic legal code last May, Christian leaders there say.
“There is intimidation of Christians and pastors within Sokoto metropolis in different ways, such as ejection from houses with little or no notice, harassment and increased cases of rape, especially on Christian ladies,” pastor Momo James said.
Pastor Elisha Nmeribe added that the Sokoto State Urban and Regional Planning Agency in Sokoto has been vandalizing church property. Church buildings have been demolished by government agents in Mabera, Mujaya and an area known as the old airport. The threat of more church demolitions has frightened the Christian community in these areas.
Muslim extremists, meanwhile, went on a rampage Jan. 9 in several northern Nigerian states, attacking Christians and church properties, reportedly because of a lunar eclipse. The attacks by Muslim mobs took place in the capital cities of Adamawa, Yobe, Sokoto and Borno states. Eyewitnesses said the mobs claimed that the lunar eclipse occurred because of the sins of non-Muslims, particularly Christians.
And in Zamfara the governor plans to forcefully convert a Catholic church in Dashi into an Islamic school. Governor Alhaji Ahmed Sani announced the move after he and some of his followers broke into St. Dominics Catholic Church on Jan. 19.
According to Compass Direct, eyewitnesses confirmed that after Governor Sani helped break into the church, he ordered the pulpit pulled down and declared “Allahu Akbar” (God is great). He also directed his aides to ensure the church was immediately put to use as an Islamic school. Shariah, in northern Nigeria at least, leaves little room for religious tolerance.
