State of emergency to prevent 'near genocide'

By Ola Awoniyi

Abuja - Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo moved to stem a rising tide of religious violence on Tuesday, declaring a state of emergency in a strife-storn central state and warning that violence between Christians and Muslims could threaten national unity.

In a televised address, Obasanjo announced that he had invoked emergency powers to suspend the elected governor of Plateau State - where earlier this month a Christian ethnic militia slaughtered more than 200 Muslims in an attack on a rural town - and replace him with a retired general.

The decision marks the first time since Nigeria's return to civilian rule in 1999 that the president has deposed an elected leader, and comes amid mounting anger in the west African giant's major cities. Last week at least 36 people were killed in sectarian riots in the northern commercial centre, Kano.

'Very serious action to stem the tide of what has become a near mutual genocide'
"The situation in Plateau State, to say the least, constitutes a challenge to our democracy. We need to take very serious action to stem the tide of what has become a near mutual genocide," Obasanjo said in his address.

"It constitutes a grave threat to law and order and a great danger to security in Plateau State, and the neighbouring states. It is therefore clearly a threat to the security and unity of Nigeria," he warned.

"I hereby declare a state of emergency in Plateau State. The governor and his deputy by this declaration will go on suspension and cease to be in charge of the affairs of Plateau State for six months," he added.

Obasanjo also suspended Plateau's state assembly and appointed a retired general, Chris Ali, to run the region. Ali is a Christian who served as military governor of Plateau under former dictator Ibrahim Babangida.

Under Nigeria's 1999 constitution, a state of emergency goes into effect immediately but must be ratified by the National Assembly within two days. It must be reviewed within six months.

'I hereby declare a state of emergency in Plateau State'
At the National Assembly, which on Wednesday will debate whether or nor to ratify the decree, some lawmakers were dismayed by the decree.

Senator Ken Nnamani of Enugu State, recalled that Nigeria's last state of emergency, called by then prime minister Tafewa Balewa in 1962, triggered a chain of bloody events that led to Nigeria's first military coup.

And veteran activist and lawyer Gani Fawehinmi condemned the decision as "part and parcel of Obasanjo's goal to subject Nigeria to a one-party state under his personal, authoritarian, totalitarian and tyrannical rule."

For three years, Christian and Muslim ethnic groups have been fighting over farmland around the towns of Yelwa, Shendam, Wase and Langtang, 300km east of Abuja in Nigeria's central highlands.

Hundreds of people have been killed - most recently the more than 200 Muslims who were slaughtered in an attack on Yelwa on May 2 - and more than 30 000 people from both communities have sought refuge in neighbouring states.

"Violence has reached unprecedented levels and hundreds have been killed, with many more wounded or displaced from their homes on account of their ethnic or religious identification," Obasanjo said.

Obasanjo accused Plateau State's Governor Joshua Dariye, of "gross dereliction of duty, incompetence" and of taking sides in the dispute.

He also slammed him for spending more time travelling abroad than in attempting to deal with the situation in his state.

Toyin Pelemo, a 50-year-old businesswoman from Kuru, near the Plateau's capital Jos, said that most people in the state supported Obasanjo's decision and that the situation appeared calm after the broadcast.

"Dariye's suspension from office will be seen as good riddance. He travels too much. He is never around. I think most Plateau State residents are happy about his suspension, and possible removal," she said.

Dariye's spokesperson, Dauda Lamba, expressed suprise over Obasanjo's decision, but did not say whether the governor would resist his suspension.

"We did not know that the measure would come so soon. We are all in Abuja, including Governor Dariye. He is taking the development calmly. He is not unduly worried over it," he said.

Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, whose 130 million people are divided evenly between Christians and Muslims. More than 10 000 Nigerians have been killed in ethnic and sectarian violence since 1999.

Last week rioting erupted in the northern city of Kano, when Muslim youths targeted Christians in a revenge for the Yelwa massacre.

Officials in Kano report that about 30 000 Christians are now living in six emergency camps around the city, while police and the Red Cross say that more than 30 died. Some Christian leaders claim that hundreds were killed. - Sapa-AFP







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Published on the Web by IOL on 2004-05-18 18:36:02


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