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KADUNA, Nigeria - In late Nov 2002, Officials canceled the Miss World pageant in Nigeria. They decided to move it to London. The initial reports claimed a newspaper report on the event sparked the rioting that has killed about 200 people and injured thousands

The announcement came after three days of rioting triggered by the pageant and a newspaper's reference to the prophet Muhammad.

Fueling the clashes are long-standing hostilities between the various tribes of Muslims and Christians in Africa's most populous nation, where rioting and fighting between the groups is commonplace. Previous riots in Kaduna have escalated into religious battles that have killed hundreds since civilian government replaced military rule in 1999.

Islamic groups have complained for months that beauty pageant scheduled promotes promiscuity.

Things worsened after ThisDay newspaper in Kaduna published an article Saturday suggesting that Islam's prophet would have approved of the pageant. "What would Muhammad think? In all honesty, he would probably have chosen a wife from among them," Isioma Daniel wrote.

After Muslims called it offensive, the newspaper published a brief front-page apology Monday, and a lengthier retraction Thursday that said the passage had run by mistake.

Muslims gathered after prayers outside the national mosque in the usually placid capital 225 miles northeast of here and then stormed through town, burning cars and assaulting bystanders they believed to be Christian outside plush international hotels
(WFT asks- Did the Leaders in the Mosque attempt to stop any violence or did they provoke it) (A statement to the press about not condoning violence must be given by the Leaders, or it will be considered approval of violence)

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo went on television along with religious leaders to appeal for national calm, blaming a media report, not the contest itself, for the violence. "It could happen at any time irresponsible journalism is committed against Islam," he said.

The protests began after a newspaper suggested that the Prophet Mohammed would have probably chosen to marry one of the Miss World contestants if he had witnessed the beauty pageant in Abuja.

The Nigerian Government has assured Muslims that those responsible for the offending article, which appeared in ThisDay newspaper, will be brought to account.

ThisDay has retracted it and has published apologies three times, to no avail.

BBC correspondent Haruna Bahago reports that protesters armed with sticks, daggers and knives set fire to vehicles and attacked anyone they suspected of being Christian.

Many people suffered either knife wounds or beatings as the rioters advanced on Abuja's central market.

Our correspondent was himself surrounded by a group of angry Muslim radicals, who suspected he was Christian, and he had to shout "Allahu Akbar" (God is great) until they let him go. Our correspondent in Kaduna says the streets are virtually deserted except for army patrols and the scars of the rioting are visible everywhere.

Bands of Muslims, some armed with ceremonial daggers, stabbed and set fire to passers-by. Young men shouting "Allahu Akhbar," or "God is great," ignited makeshift barricades of tires and garbage. In one Christian minority district, an old woman sifted through the smoking ruins of her house to retrieve pots and plans.

Nearby, Tunde Adeyemi, a 25-year-old Christian, related how he and friends fought off Muslims. "We had only stones. They were shooting us, and we were stoning them," he said

May 23, 2001  - A church and a mosque were burned in Gombe state in northeastern Nigeria during riots over plans to introduce the strict Muslim sharia law on Wednesday.

A demonstration protesting two bills being debated in the state assembly turned violent in the town of Kumo. There were no reports of deaths, although some people were injured and some shops were vandalized.

The protesters opposed two bills which call for the implementation of sharia and the creation of secular "customary courts" for Christians and non-Muslims. Non-Muslims oppose sharia for its tough sanctions, such as stoning for adultery and amputation of hands for theft.

Nigeria has a Muslim majority in northern states and a Christian majority in the south of the country. The declaration of sharia law in some northern states led to Christian-Muslim fighting in February and May 2000 in the northern city of Kaduna in which hundreds of people died. About a half dozen states have adopted sharia or are abut to do so.

Church Leader Blames Military For Nigeria Riots
LAGOS, Nigeria (NEWSROOM) -- Riots between Christians and Muslims in northern Nigeria that killed an estimated 200 people last week were caused by "discredited military apologists operating under religious cover," the president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) said.

During a press conference in Lagos, Bishop Mike Okonkwo asked the Nigerian government to appoint a commission to determine who and what caused the riots that followed a demonstration by Christians against the introduction of Islamic law (Sharia) in the state of Kaduna. The PFN is the umbrella organization for Pentecostal churches in Nigeria.

Many Nigerians believe that disgruntled former military officers and their supporters are behind a wave of ethnic and religious violence that has swept Nigeria since May when President Olusegun Obasanjo became the country's first democratic leader in nearly two decades. Obasanjo says he became a Christian while imprisoned during the previous military regime. "By identifying these unpatriotic elements within the ranks of politicians, military apologists,and religious charlatans, the government would be able to nip subsequent orgies of violence in the bud," Okonkwo told reporters.

Thousands of Christians were returning from the state government house where had marched when they were attacked. The clash degenerated into a major riot that engulfed Kaduna, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 200 people, scores of injuries and the destruction of many churches, mosques, and shops. Muslim and Christian leaders appealed for calm

The Real Story- Sharia

Islamic law prohibits the consumption of alcohol, permits caning and amputation of limbs, and calls for separate schools and public transportation for males and females. Muslim supporters in Nigeria insist that Christians will not be affected. But in Zamfara, where the state purchased additional buses so that men and women would not ride together, there have been numerous reports of Christian women waiting hours for a bus that transports females.

Zamfara State Governor Ahmed Sanni triggered the Sharia controversy last October by adopting Islamic law. Seven other northern states, including Kaduna, soon did the same despite protests by Christians. Opposition in Kaduna is strong because the population is about evenly divided between Christians and Muslims.

If the federal government fails to act on the spread of Sharia in eight northern states, Christians would no longer tolerate "senseless provocation in the hands of religious bandits."

1991 Nigeria Religious Violence- Muslims versus Christians
The conflict in Zango-Kataf in southern Kaduna State illustrates the explosive mix of religious and ethnic rivalry, as well as the highly partial approach of the authorities which has succeeded in inflaming conflict.

The town of Zango-Kataf is an enclave of mainly Muslim Hausa-Fulanis in an area dominated by the mostly Christian Katafs. Tension between the two communities has been long-standing. In February 1992, rioting broke out over a local government decision to move the market from a Hausa area to one dominated by Katafs. Sixty people died. Worse rioting broke out in May, apparently after Kataf attacks on the Hausa community. The violence spread to Kaduna, where it was mainly directed by Hausas against Christians. Several churches were burned down and Christian ministers killed. The official death toll was 300 but unofficial estimates were as high as several thousand. Over 60,000 people fled their homes.

The official response to the violence was to arrest several hundred Katafs, most of whom were held without charge. Six prominent Katafs, including Major-General Zamani Lekwot, a former ambassador, were charged with complicity in the riots before a specially constituted Civil Disturbances Special Tribunal. The prosecution withdrew its case, but the accused were rearrested by security agents as they left the court.

In September 1991, they were charged again, with a total of 14 people being sentenced to death by two Civil Disturbances Tribunals, including Major-General Lekwot. The hearings had all the same defects as the tribunal which heard the case of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other Ogoni activists, since they were constituted under the same law. In this instance, the Government commuted the death sentences to five years' imprisonment.

Nov 28, 1999 Nigeria Riots
As many as 100 people are reported to have been killed during the two days of ethnic violence in Nigeria's biggest city, Lagos. The violence that erupted in a Lagos market on Thursday was the worst in a series of bloody incidents in Nigeria since military rule ended in May.

October 15, 2001
Dozens of people were feared dead after two days of religious clashes in the northern city of Kano triggered by protests against air strikes in Afghanistan. One of the worst hit districts was Zangon, outside the city centre, a Muslim stronghold with a significant Christian minority. "People were slaughtered in Zangon. There cannot be less than 200 killed," said one of many residents ferried in buses under military escort to Sabon Gari where many non-Muslim immigrants live. Hundreds of soldiers were deployed to restore order and prevent an escalation of the fighting, the latest in a cycle of violence since a dozen northern states introduced Islamic law, or sharia, last year. Some Muslim rioters carried posters of Osama bin Laden

Dozens of people -- including a Baptist seminary student -- were killed when riots between Christians and Muslims broke out Feb. 21 2000 in Kaduna, Nigeria.

The next morning, a mob breached the wall of the Baptist seminary compound there and set all the buildings ablaze.

The student died when violence broke out between Muslim youth and thousands of Christians peacefully protesting calls for strict Islamic law to be implemented in the northern Nigerian state. Neighboring Zamfara state implemented "Sharia" law in January, and other northern states are considering similar moves.

July 24 2001
Dozens of people were slaughtered in rioting between Muslims and Christians in Bauchi State in June, according to the Nigerian press.

Some 22,000 people were forced to flee their homes during the fighting. Hundreds of buildings were burnt to the ground including houses, churches and mosques. The violence began in mid-June when a Muslim bus-driver insisted men and women should sit separately on his bus, according to Islamic Shari'ah law. The non-Muslims refused and tensions led to violence

October 4, 2002
In Nigeria At least 10 people have died 30 houses, a church and two schools have been burned to the ground. Police said the latest trouble began on Tuesday when a number of cows reported missing from a predominantly Christian district were located in a largely Muslim district. The clashes broke out in the central state of Plateau , which was rocked last year by riots between Muslims and Christians that killed more than 900 people.

Tensions have been running high between Muslims and Christians in the region since riots ravaged the tin-mining city of Jos in September last year. The Jos bloodbath was one of a string of clashes that swept Nigeria's central farming region last year, killing thousands of people. More than 10,000 people have died in ethnic and religious violence since 1999 when 15 years of military rule came to an end.