Religious Violence in Jos

The Nigerian city Jos, capital of Nigeria's Middle Belt that spans across Muslim and Christian communities, has been a point of religious violence for countless years. Recently, deadly riots broke out being "the worst Nigeria has seen in at least four years." Over400 bodies were found dead, but many still remain in the churches and houses that were torched by outraged and armed Muslims and Christians.

This sudden clash was a result of elections in Jos. "Elections have not been held in Jos for years, in part because of fears that the political parties would split along religious lines, which is in fact what happened." Nigeria's Population of 140 million people is evenly divided between Northern Muslims and Southern Christians. Besides religious differences, violence is due to disagreements over land and political power. Riots have also been cause by what seems as insignificant but actually very serious matters. In 2002, an unintended insult towards Islam was made during a beauty pageant which left hundreds dead. In 2006, a Danish cartoon had controversies leading to almost 200 deaths.

Regardless of the long history of violence through this disputed capital, many officials believe Jos had come a long way in relieving religious tensions. However, this recent riot has brought progress to a stop. Mr. Salihu, a Muslim, said, "The violence threatened to undo years of careful bridge building between the communities. As someone who has been involved in a peace work between Christians and Muslims, this has set our work back 10 years. It will take us a very long time to rebuild the confidence."

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This article shows how changes in democracy and government elections have effects on society. The religious tensions were already dangerous already, but when elections came into the picture it disrupted the peace that was still in tact and led to deadly riots.

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