Justice for the Hundreds Butchered in Nigeria?

If there is a single watchword in the 21st century, it must be "accountability." When no one is accountable, banks can over-leverage their balance sheets, police can trample on the rights of the accused, and murderers can go free. That latter may be what lies ahead in Nigeria's Plateau state where Muslim gangs murdered hundreds of Christians in what might be vengeance for an outburst of murder in January. If someone isn't held accountable, it will happen again. It is a major problem for the Acting President, aptly named "Goodluck Jonathan."

The Plateau state in Nigeria, with the city of Jos as its capital, lies along the line that separates the Muslim north from the largely Christian south. According to the BBC, Jos is divided into Christian and Muslim areas, and social divisions are accentuated by a system of classifying people as indigenes and settlers. Hausa-speaking Muslims living in Jos for decades are still classified as settlers, who find it difficult to stand for election. Second class citizens don't ever like that position.

Plateau is prime agricultural land (as well as home to wildlife preserves). Naturally, there isn't enough to go around. John Onaiyekan, the archbishop of the capital Abuja, told Vatican Radio that the violence was rooted not in religion but in social, economic and tribal differences. "It is a classic conflict between pastoralists and farmers, except that all the Fulani are Muslims and all the Berom are Christians," he said. Any American who knows the history of the Plains states will understand that this could be the sheep men versus the cattle men played out in Africa.

Perhaps the archbishop is right, and maybe not. The fact remains that mass murder happened. "We have over 500 killed in three villages and the survivors are busy burying their dead," said state information commissioner Gregory Yenlong. "People were attacked with axes, daggers and cutlasses - many of them children, the aged and pregnant women."

According to a statement from the Plateau State Christian Elders Consultative Forum (PSCEF), it took the army 2 hours to respond to a distress call, and while the military has settled things down, by the time the troops arrived, "the attackers had finished their job and left."

There is some good news. Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has already sacked his chief security advisor, meaning someone in government took the blame. Also, the authorities have arrested 95 suspects. Getting them a fair trial is going to be difficult given the tensions in Plateau. Difficult is not impossible though. Sending some of the guilty to jail, and getting justice for the victims of January's slaughter, will deter further murders.

Nigeria does not have to be Rwanda, but it has to change its path soon.

© Copyright 2010 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.

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