‘Culture of impunity’ over violence in Nigeria, says Archbishop of Jos

Jul 22, 2019 by Jill

by Adam Becket, Church Times:

Climate change cannot be used as an excuse for violence, says Archbishop Kwashi.

RELIGION, not climate change, is the motive behind violence between Christians and Muslims in northern Nigeria, the Archbishop of Jos, Dr Benjamin Kwashi, has stated.

Dr Kwashi explained: “If there is climate change, does that give you a reason to start killing people in order to force people out of their land? Why not come peacefully and negotiate? There is sufficient land in Nigeria, without the need to shed blood.”

Clashes between Christian farmers and Fulani Muslim herdsmen have killed hundreds in recent years (News, 6 July 2018). They are, Dr Kwashi argues, part of an agenda to “wipe Christianity from the face of northern Nigeria”. Last year, the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, said that the violence was caused by “temporal” problems, not by religion (News, 30 November 2018).

In a new book, Neither Bomb Nor Bullet (Lion Hudson, £12.99), ghost-written by Andrew Boyd, Dr Kwashi alleges: “In northern Nigeria, if you are a Muslim and you kill a Christian, you’re most likely to go free. You can get away with murder — literally. There is a culture of impunity in Nigeria, and the government is either powerless or lacks the will to prevent the killing.”

Read here (£)