[dropcap]T[/dropcap]ension reigns at the Modibbo Adama University of Technology in Yola in Adamawa in Northern Nigeria after clashes between muslim and Christian students on the campus. Muslim students under the aegis of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) went on rampage after a Christian student allegedly insulted their religion. Local contacts claimed that the clashes were actually in connection with a local Students Union (SUG) election. The outcome of the election angered muslim students because the Christians won the key positions.
Shame on Religion or on Religionists?
Yesterday, a face book friend drew the attention of the public to the incident with this post:
Shame on religion! Students rioting right now in my school in Yola! They’ve burnt a lecture theatre and a mosque. I guess the female hostel been vandalized, all because of religion! Some ignorant muslim students shouting Allahu Akbar are everywhere. Christian students are mobilizing. Everywhere is tensed. Tension everywhere between Muslim and Christian students! Soldiers are trying to calm (the) issue. I’ve fractured my leg. When will black people get some sense? I weep for my people
It is not just a case of black people coming to their senses but all Muslims and Christians especially those of them in northern Nigeria learning to tolerate one another. Religions do not hate, riot and kill but religionists do. Shame should rather go to the religionists because the ones who take offence; who fight, maim and kill. By the way, there are black Muslims and Christians elsewhere in the world who are living in peace and harmony. So the fault is not in the religion per se but in the religionists. Similar riots have taken place in Northern Nigeria, on campuses in Mubi, Maiduguri and Zaria.
Abuse of Religion, Attacks and Casualties
Some students from the university in Yola who were contacted gave accounts of what happened. One of them said:
The problem started right from the school, after the S.U.G elections last week. The MSSN people claimed that the Christians were holding almost all the positions. So yesterday, around 5pm some muslim students beat up a Christian student claiming he abused their religion. Then later, the Christian students mobilised and attacked a mosque within the school. Both parties went haywire, burning down buildings, torching and destroying instruments belonging to the Christians who were holding fellowship as of the period. The female hostel was partially torched.
This student recounted how he sustained injuries:
Well, I was watching nations’ cup finals at the students’ common room, when we started hearing Allahu Akbar and those who were shouting Allahu Akbar were advancing towards us. Everybody started running helter-skelter…I had to run too. In the process of running, I hit my leg against a big Stone. I kept running with the pain. What made the matter worse was the soldiers were firing warning shots into the air!
Another student has this to say concerning the incident:
They were chanting Allahu Akbar and set our lecture theatres on fire. The boy whom they claim insulted the prophet was seriously wounded. They entered a school fellowship and stoned and beat people up. There are rumours that they killed two people. They stoned at us while we were in the hostel. This morning they said to our faces that this is just the beginning. Even in the presence of the military, they carried on with vandalization. Apparently the military didn’t have the authorization to shoot. They tried to burn down the big chapel. Most Christians slept in the chapel yesterday
A student said one of those who were attacked yesterday just died:
“A student who lives near my house just died this morning… the information is still sketchy but I think there are more casualties. Some people had machete cuts, a female friend of mine was hit with a bat on the forehead”
Soldiers have intervened and are trying to restore law and order. According one of the students: “The situation is calm as of now. Security agents are everywhere in the school… for now there is no entry into the school environment”.
The student noted how this incident would eventually after their academic program and the general life on the campus:
“We are to start our first semester exams today. But I think it as been postponed till further notice! I saw many Christina mobilising all through the night off campus, claiming enough is enough. Enough of Fulani/ Muslims molestation and killings! Kudos to the security personnel. They were able to bring the situation under control” The university has officially been closed down!
The Way Forward
On the way forward, some students said that religious activities should be prohibited on campuses: “Well, the way forward is just to ban all religious gatherings and activities in all higher institutions. Same crisis happened sometime ago in Mubi and at the University of Maiduguri. Religion creates more division than unity among students. …the coming generations should be saved from the shackles of religion because I don’t understand why a Christian/muslim group will be poking their nose into politics”.
Banning religious activities may not be the solution because such a move constitutes a violation of basic human rights. Instead efforts should be made to foster tolerance and secular values. Students should be taught to respect the rights of others to freedom of religion, belief and expressions. Campus elections and politics should not be a religious zero sum game.
Some secular students decried the preaching and promotion of religious hate and division on the campuses. One of them pointed out that hate-filled preachings “have been around all these years. MSSN and FCS both preach hatred to their members. Whenever it comes to elections, both religious groups always present their own candidates…sad sad”.
At a time that Nigeria is grappling with Boko Haram attacks and killings by Fulani herdsmen in the region, this is indeed an unfortunate development for tertiary education and the nation as a whole.
Leo Igwe is a human rights activist and the founder of the Nigerian Humanist Movement. He was the Western and Southern African representative to IHEU, the International Humanist and Ethical Union. He can be reached by email HERE.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
