Nigerian archbishop slams media reports on Muslim-Christian fighting
January 21, 2010
Criticizing the accuracy of earlier media reports, Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama of the north-central Nigerian city of Jos has denied that a Muslim attack on a parish spawned the recent violence there.
“The accounts that have been published so far on the origin of the fighting are mistaken,” he said. “In particular, it is not true that a church was attacked and burned … The origin of the conflicts of today, like those of November 2008, are the contrasts between the Hausa, of Muslim beliefs, and the indigenous peoples, mainly Christians, who struggle for political control of the city.”
15% of Nigeria’s 142.5 million people are Catholic; 25% are Protestant, and 50% are Muslim.
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Further information:
- “The accounts of the fighting's origin are mistaken” (Fides)
- Authorities Quell Violence in Jos, Nigeria (Vatican Radio)
- Muslim rioters in Nigeria attack Catholic parish; 40 dead (CWN, 1/19)
- Muslim youth attack Catholics in Nigeria (CWN, 1/18)
- UPDATE: Nigerian archbishop clarifies remarks, confirms churches have been burned down (CWN, 1/22)
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