Politicians wage geopolitical war in central Nigeria

JOS, Nigeria – Power broker and devout Christian Chief Solomon Lar is on a crusade against Islamic “invaders” he says are sweeping down through central Nigeria, killing his people and forcing them off their fertile lands.

Lar is one of many politicians embroiled in a battle for dominance over Nigeria’s Middle Belt, an ethnically diverse central area on the cusp of the Muslim-dominated north and Christian south. Conflict has simmered throughout Lar’s home state of Plateau since street fighting in the state capital Jos killed hundreds in 2001.It culminated this May in a massacre of hundreds of Muslims by Christian Tarok militiamen in the town of Yelwa.”That was a reprisal in response to orchestrated attacks in Plateau by well-armed Islamic fundamentalists similar to al Qaeda,” said Lar, a Tarok tribesman, once governor of Plateau, at his residence in Jos.Analysts say the violence is threatening to destabilise the young democracy of Africa’s most populous country, with systematic purges of minority religious and tribal communities across the Middle Belt.The Plateau crisis prompted President Olusegun Obasanjo – Nigeria’s military ruler from 1976 to 1979 – to declare a state of emergency there, suspending the elected governor and replacing him with a former military chief of staff.TINDERBOXThe history of the Middle Belt conflict goes back over 200 years to the first holy jihad by a northern ethnic Hausa-Fulani empire that conquered huge swaths of West Africa but was halted by Middle Belt warriors before it reached what is now Nigeria’s Atlantic coast.Mutual hatred took root during British colonial rule as rival communities were played off against each other, escalating after independence as politicians and traditional rulers stoked tensions to cling on to power.Environmental changes have compounded the strife as Hausa-Fulani herders push south into more fertile farmlands, fleeing from arid zones caused by over-grazing and the expansion of the Sahara desert.In Wase, one of Plateau’s ethnically mixed local government areas, Muslim Hausa-Fulani now outnumber the indigenous Christian tribes following a series of purges on Christian communities and settlements.For Nicholas Mamsing, a high school teacher and part time farmer in the Christian enclave of Kadarko in Wase, the attacks on his community’s farms were caused by a political row over elections.”This whole thing started when we began demanding to carve out our own local government back in 2001, so that we could have our own say in things,” he said overlooking a field of near burned down huts, charred trees and wilted maize.Most of Kadarko’s Christian community have since been chased out by Muslims, said Mamsing, swelling a toll of at least 250 000 people who have been displaced from their homes by violence in Plateau state this year.Under pressure to retaliate against the assault on Kadarko, and other Christian districts, Christian militia regrouped and orchestrated an attack on Yelwa, a Muslim enclave in a neighbouring area.”We were called to a meeting by the local government chairman.I realised it was a trap when I saw heavily armed militiamen swarming into the neighbourhood,” said local Islamic preacher and Yelwa resident Mohammed Kabiru Umar, who hid in a dried out well during the May 2 massacre.”The security forces were nowhere to be seen as they were withdrawn before the killings happened.That order had to come from somewhere.FLAWED DEMOCRACYSince Nigeria emerged from 15 years of military rule in 1999, thousands have been killed in sectarian violence as a new generation of politicians wage turf wars over their domains.Elections last year were marred by widespread vote rigging, intimidation and violence, with the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) winning a landslide majority in state and national assemblies.Analysts say the PDP maintains its political domination by using Nigeria’s oil wealth to paper over sectarian differences by buying off political rivals if they have not already been swept away by violence.In Plateau, some militant Christian groups felt betrayed by the PDP, which struck deals with Muslims to win elections.The party’s solution to the conflict has been to woo shady power brokers back to the fold.The real business of reconciliation has already finished, played out in high political circles behind closed doors.A peace conference inaugurated by Obasanjo in Plateau in August is celebrating the return of peace, but pointedly failed to set up a panel of enquiry to investigate political backing of the violence.Suspects arrested by police are largely cattle thieves.”No party can survive without bridging the ethnic divide,” said Dr.Abubakar Siddique Muhammed, head of political science at Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria’s premier tertiary institution.”In Plateau, there is a process of resolving the crisis and those opponents controlling resources are being brought back so that the PDP’s candidates will be credible,” he said.- Nampa-ReutersConflict has simmered throughout Lar’s home state of Plateau since street fighting in the state capital Jos killed hundreds in 2001.It culminated this May in a massacre of hundreds of Muslims by Christian Tarok militiamen in the town of Yelwa.”That was a reprisal in response to orchestrated attacks in Plateau by well-armed Islamic fundamentalists similar to al Qaeda,” said Lar, a Tarok tribesman, once governor of Plateau, at his residence in Jos.Analysts say the violence is threatening to destabilise the young democracy of Africa’s most populous country, with systematic purges of minority religious and tribal communities across the Middle Belt.The Plateau crisis prompted President Olusegun Obasanjo – Nigeria’s military ruler from 1976 to 1979 – to declare a state of emergency there, suspending the elected governor and replacing him with a former military chief of staff.TINDERBOXThe history of the Middle Belt conflict goes back over 200 years to the first holy jihad by a northern ethnic Hausa-Fulani empire that conquered huge swaths of West Africa but was halted by Middle Belt warriors before it reached what is now Nigeria’s Atlantic coast.Mutual hatred took root during British colonial rule as rival communities were played off against each other, escalating after independence as politicians and traditional rulers stoked tensions to cling on to power.Environmental changes have compounded the strife as Hausa-Fulani herders push south into more fertile farmlands, fleeing from arid zones caused by over-grazing and the expansion of the Sahara desert.In Wase, one of Plateau’s ethnically mixed local government areas, Muslim Hausa-Fulani now outnumber the indigenous Christian tribes following a series of purges on Christian communities and settlements.For Nicholas Mamsing, a high school teacher and part time farmer in the Christian enclave of Kadarko in Wase, the attacks on his community’s farms were caused by a political row over elections.”This whole thing started when we began demanding to carve out our own local government back in 2001, so that we could have our own say in things,” he said overlooking a field of near burned down huts, charred trees and wilted maize.Most of Kadarko’s Christian community have since been chased out by Muslims, said Mamsing, swelling a toll of at least 250 000 people who have been displaced from their homes by violence in Plateau state this year.Under pressure to retaliate against the assault on Kadarko, and other Christian districts, Christian militia regrouped and orchestrated an attack on Yelwa, a Muslim enclave in a neighbouring area.”We were called to a meeting by the local government chairman.I realised it was a trap when I saw heavily armed militiamen swarming into the neighbourhood,” said local Islamic preacher and Yelwa resident Mohammed Kabiru Umar, who hid in a dried out well during the May 2 massacre.”The security forces were nowhere to be seen as they were withdrawn before the killings happened.That order had to come from somewhere.FLAWED DEMOCRACYSince Nigeria emerged from 15 years of military rule in 1999, thousands have been killed in sectarian violence
as a new generation of politicians wage turf wars over their domains.Elections last year were marred by widespread vote rigging, intimidation and violence, with the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) winning a landslide majority in state and national assemblies.Analysts say the PDP maintains its political domination by using Nigeria’s oil wealth to paper over sectarian differences by buying off political rivals if they have not already been swept away by violence.In Plateau, some militant Christian groups felt betrayed by the PDP, which struck deals with Muslims to win elections.The party’s solution to the conflict has been to woo shady power brokers back to the fold.The real business of reconciliation has already finished, played out in high political circles behind closed doors.A peace conference inaugurated by Obasanjo in Plateau in August is celebrating the return of peace, but pointedly failed to set up a panel of enquiry to investigate political backing of the violence.Suspects arrested by police are largely cattle thieves.”No party can survive without bridging the ethnic divide,” said Dr.Abubakar Siddique Muhammed, head of political science at Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria’s premier tertiary institution.”In Plateau, there is a process of resolving the crisis and those opponents controlling resources are being brought back so that the PDP’s candidates will be credible,” he said.- Nampa-Reuters