Muslims and Christians living in the African nation, after new religious clashes in a key town killed at least two people, BosNewsLife monitored Thursday, March 17.
The northern chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria had reportedly said it wanted to know the actual number of Christians, Muslims and those who practice other religions, to find adequate funding for crucial institutions such as hospitals and schools.
However "now the question is, is this the right time for us as a nation [to have a census]", said Anglican Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, in an interview with the Voice of America (VOA) African Service.
"DIVISIVE NATURE"
"I agree we need the figures, but personally I do not think, because of the divisive nature of religion and ethnicity in our country, this is the time for us to have that census," he said. He spoke amid new reports of violence in the troubled town of Numan town in the northern state of Adamawa where government security forces reportedly shot and killed two Christian youths.
Compass Direct news agency said police killed Ezekiel Eli and Kingsley Zadok Imburu on February 7 when the two youths joined a group protesting the arrest of a local Christian woman. They were killed when policemen responded to the demonstration by opening fire on the crowd, killing Eli and Imburu instantly, the news agency reported.
Officers also detained and charged 30 people, all Christians, for their involvement in the incident, including Rev. Nelson Malau, pastor of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN), Compass Direct said. All those arrested are reportedly members of the LCCN.
MORE KILLINGS
The shootings and arrests came a little more over a week after a young Christian woman named Judith Lan’guti was shot dead, reportedly without provocation, by soldiers deployed to keep peace in the town between Muslims and Christians.
With the recent arrests, the number of Christians being held in connection with the religious crisis in Numan now stands at 78, said Compass Direct, which investigates the plight of persecuted Christians. It cited the Nigerian Red Cross as saying that 40 people have died, 144 have been injured and 2,000 have been displaced due to religious violence in Numan town.
In addition at least 3,000 Christian villagers have taken refuge in the village of Myolope in Nigeria’s northern Taraba state because 36 people of their community were killed by Muslim extremists last month, BosNewsLife reported earlier.
TALEBAN GROUPS
Compass Direct said they were allegedly attacked on Friday February 4 in Demsa village in neighboring Adamawa state. Christian communities in northeastern Nigeria have also braced for new attacks by groups of Islamic radicals, who reportedly call themselves the Taleban, BosNewsLife established.
In religious volatile Numan Christian leaders Michael Mahula Tika and Garba Yedmakudon, sent a letter to Nigeria’s president, Olusegun Obasanjo, calling for the immediate withdrawal of soldiers and policemen deployed in the area. They are asking him "to carry out full-scale investigation and independent inquiry into the killing of the three Christian brethren and the detention without trial of 30 of our people," Compass Direct reported
"Mr. President, we are looking up to you to save us from being wiped out by the forces of darkness and blood-thirsty Muslim politicians in your government," they reportedly wrote in the letter. They allegedly accuse Nigeria’s vice president, Atiku Abubakar, a Muslim from Adamawa state, of "provoking Muslim militants" to attack the Christian community in Numan town.
WOMEN ASSAULTED
"Our women and youths are being assaulted daily, and arrests are being made on false claims. The shooting and killing of these two of our brethren goes to confirm our fears that there is a hidden agenda to persecute us because we are Christians," they reportedly wrote.
Church officials have accused political parties of not doing enough to ease religious tensions, and say some clashes are linked to ill information. The Anglican leader of Kaduna Province told VOA Christian and Muslim clergy have formed an Non Governmental Organization to try "to bridge the gap between the religions in Kaduna."
He said Christians are beginning to take a greater interest in understanding Islam Archbishop
Idowu-Fearon blames much of the divide between Christians and Muslims on "political leaders
exploiting their differences, especially past military dictators," VOA reported.
(With Compass Direct, Stefan J. Bos, reports from Nigeria).
