海角大神

Nigeria鈥檚 military appears ready to begin a major operation to raid suspected hideouts across the central Nigerian Plateau State, where insurgents responsible for last week鈥檚 violence are thought to be based.

More than 200 people were killed in sectarian attacks between mainly Muslim Fulani herdsmen and 海角大神 Birom villagers near the city of Jos over the weekend of July 9. Police blamed the violence on tribal differences over land, but an Islamist insurgent group, Boko Haram, claimed responsibility for the attacks, including the wholesale massacre of 63 海角大神 parishioners taking refuge in a preacher鈥檚 house.

In a statement by the director of defense information, Col. Mohammed Yusuf, said that Nigerian Armed Forces were planning a full-scale military operation, called 鈥渙peration sweep and search,鈥� to raid the villages of Mahanga, Kakuruk, Kuzen, Maseh, and Shong 2. Those are places that serve as hideouts for criminals,聽Col. Yusuf said, adding that civilians living in those areas should leave, since there might be 鈥渃ollateral damage鈥� to innocent villagers.

鈥淭his temporary relocation is for a while and the villagers will relocate when the operation is completed,鈥� Yusuf鈥檚 statement said.
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聽To avoid 鈥渃ollateral damage,鈥� he said, inhabitants of villages 鈥渨here these criminal elements use as hideouts should vacate to a safer place where an arrangement is being made for them by the State government.鈥� Groups representing Fulani herdsmen, however, urged villagers to stay put and pray, a sign that clashes with the military may be imminent.

聽Nigeria鈥檚 military 鈥� which has ruled Nigeria directly following five separate coups and 鈥渃aretaker鈥� governments since independence in 1960 鈥� has never shied from taking action in internal security matters, and particularly against any group that challenges the authority of the Nigerian state.

Like the military鈥檚 response to the Biafran separatist movement in the late 1960s, and the Niger Delta insurgence of 2006 until the present, the Nigerian Armed Forces reaction to Boko Haram 鈥� an Islamist group that aims to replace the Nigerian government with Islamic sharia law 鈥� has been accused of substantial human rights abuses and excessive force, but Nigerian officials say that harsh methods are justified against violent groups such as Boko Haram.

鈥楶ossible genocide鈥�

Mohammed Abdullahi, secretary for the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association 鈥� which often speaks for the disparate Fulani-speaking community 鈥� urged villagers to disregard the military order, adding that association members would not move an inch from their villages.

鈥淲e are calling on the Federal government, United Nations, and other Human Rights bodies to put eyes on the possible genocide being planned by the soldiers," the group said in a statement. "If this is allowed to happen,鈥� the Fulani group warned, 鈥渘obody should blame the Fulani man for taking every measure necessary to defend himself."
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聽Ardo Isa Jafaru, an ethnic Fulani from the Jos area, blamed powerful ethnic Fulani politicians, such as National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki, and religious figures such as Sultan Saad Abubakar from failing to stand up for the Fulani people in the current standoff. 聽

鈥淭he irony here is that the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, is a not only a Fulani but, like the Sultan, a direct descendant of DanFodio,鈥� Mr. Jafaru said, referring to the famed religious mystic Usman dan Fodio, a religious mystic who led a rebellion that created a Fulani state in 1808 in what is now northern Nigeria. 鈥淗ow could these injustices be perpetrated just two weeks after [Mr. Dasuki] visited Jos and assured the world that he will do his possible best to bring peace? Is driving the Fulani from their homes a means of bringing about peace?鈥�

Many Fulani accuse the Nigerian military of siding with Birom villagers in what the Fulani see as a land dispute.

By launching an operation into Fulani areas, the Nigerian military will only make the problem of Boko Haram worse, according to the Cattle Breeders Association, adding that while ethnic Fulani would not be able to vacate their homes in 48 hours, they are willing to open dialogue with the government.

Religion, politics, and ethnicity

In Nigeria, three things are intertwined 鈥� religion, politics, and ethnicity 鈥� according to a report by the 12-member joint delegation of World Council of Churches (WCC), led by General Secretary Olav Fyske Tveit of Norway and Jordanian Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, chairman of the board of the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought.
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聽If dozens of separate problems were resolved, it would contribute to overall peace, while inaction over other problems such as corruption, mismanagement, land disputes, and the lack of aid for victims or punishment for troublemakers have the potential to fuel tensions. This is especially true in Nigeria's "Middle Belt," where the mostly Muslim north meets the largely 海角大神 south, according to the report.

聽"There is a possibility that the current tension and conflict might become subsumed by its religious dimension (especially along geographical 'religious fault-lines')," the report said, warning that blaming only religion for the strife would make that incomplete view "a self-fulfilling prediction.鈥�

The Nigerian military insists its operation is only a 鈥渢emporary鈥� measure, adding that 鈥渢he residents should be rest assured that as soon as the operations are over, they will be called back to their residences. Inconveniences caused are highly regretted.鈥澛�
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聽The Fulani herdsmen group warned that any operation in a predominantly Fulani area amounts to genocide, and argued that members would not fold their arms and watch some the army 鈥渃ontinue their acts of terrorism鈥� against a region with more than 150,000 inhabitants.

The herdsmen urged the government to force the military to stand down, but added that if they don鈥檛, they will simply 鈥渋nstigate another crisis that has the potential of being worse than Boko Haram.鈥澛�