2010 Jos riots

Ethno-religious conflict in central Nigeria April 2014 January 2026 2010 Jos riots Locator Map Jos-Nigeria.png Location of Jos in Nigeria Jos, Plateau, Nigeria 9 55 12 N 8 53 33 E region:NG-PL_type:event inline,title yes 2010 1 17 religious rioting 2,992 Clashes took place in 2010 between Muslim and Christian ethnic groups in central Nigeria in and near the city of Jos. The first spate of violence of 2010 started on 17 January in Jos and spread to surrounding communities. Houses, churches, mosques and vehicles were set ablaze, during at least four days of fighting.https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gzl2_TiUNy_W4vqIC3NZSasnA5HA Curfew relaxed in Nigeria's violence-wracked city: army Agence France-Presse 26 January 2010 Jos https://web.archive.org/web/20100128055533/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gzl2_TiUNy_W4vqIC3NZSasnA5HA 28 January 2010 dead At least 326 people, and possibly more than a thousand, were killed.Human Rights Watch "Leave Everything to God": Accountability for Inter-Communal Violence in Plateau and Kaduna States, Nigeria 12 December 2013 49–81 https://www.hrw.org/reports/2013/12/12/leave-everything-god-0 6 May 2015 21 April 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150421165010/http://www.hrw.org/reports/2013/12/12/leave-everything-god-0 dead Hundreds of people died in fresh clashes in March 2010.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/08/nigeria-religious-violence-jos Hundreds dead as more religious violence hits Nigeria Smith David 8 March 2010 The Guardian 30 January 2020 en-GB 0261-3077 Many people were killed and dumped into wells.https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/deadly-cycle-ethno-religious-conflict-jos-plateau-state-nigeria A Deadly Cycle: Ethno-Religious Conflict in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria - Nigeria ReliefWeb 7 November 2011 en 30 January 2020 This is the third major incident of rioting in Jos within a ten-year span. Some one thousand people were killed in riots in 2001, and at least 700 died in subsequent violence in 2008.https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100119/ap_on_re_af/af_nigeria_violence Religious violence erupts again in central Nigeria Saka Ahmed 19 January 2010 Associated Press 19 January 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100122231219/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100119/ap_on_re_af/af_nigeria_violence 22 January 2010 dead Jos is the capital of Plateau State, in the middle of the divide between the predominantly Muslim north of Nigeria and the predominantly Christian south.https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/world/africa/20nigeria.html Christian-Muslim Mayhem in Nigeria Kills Dozens Nossiter Adam 19 January 2010 The New York Times 19 January 2010 New York, NY https://web.archive.org/web/20100121060039/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/world/africa/20nigeria.html 21 January 2010 live Since 2001, the area has been plagued by violence motivated by multiple factors.https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8555018.stm BBC News 'Hundreds dead' in Nigeria attack 8 March 2010 8 March 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100309053420/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8555018.stm 9 March 2010 live The clashes have been characterised as "religious violence" by many news sources,https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8468456.stm Nigeria religious riots 'kill 200' in Jos 20 January 2010 8 March 2010 BBC News https://web.archive.org/web/20100323061832/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8468456.stm 23 March 2010 live https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2010/0308/Nigeria-violence-Muslim-Christian-clashes-kill-hundreds Nigeria violence: Muslim-Christian clashes kill hundreds Baldauf Scott 8 March 2010 8 March 2010 BBC News https://web.archive.org/web/20100311013249/http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2010/0308/Nigeria-violence-Muslim-Christian-clashes-kill-hundreds 11 March 2010 live although others cite ethnic and economic differences as the root of the violence. Overview January Reports on the catalyst vary. According to the state police commissioner, skirmishes began after Muslim youths set a Catholic church, filled with worshippers, on fire.Associated Press https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/world/africa/19briefs-Nigeriabrf.html World Briefing – Africa – Nigeria – Religious Violence Kills 27 Nigeria The New York Times 18 January 2010 8 March 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100123213744/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/world/africa/19briefs-Nigeriabrf.html 23 January 2010 live A local paper reported that attackers yelled "Allahu Akhbar" before burning down churches and homes.https://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100308/wl_afp/nigeriaunrest Appeals for calm after Nigerian sectarian slaughter Abubakar Aminu 8 March 2010 Agence France-Presse 8 March 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100314072923/http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100308/wl_afp/nigeriaunrest 14 March 2010 dead Other community leaders say it began with an argument over the rebuilding of a Muslim home in a predominantly Christian neighbourhood that had been destroyed in the November 2008 riots.https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/20/AR2010012000542.html?hpid=sec-world Group: More than 200 dead in Nigeria violence Gambrell Jon 20 January 2010 20 January 2010 The Washington PostJune 2021 medicmedic Both Muslim and Christian youth have been blamed for starting the violence.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article6994356.ece Nigerian Army ordered in as 200 die in Christian-Muslim riots McConnell Tristan 19 January 2010 The Times London, UK 19 January 2010September 2024 medicmedic A 24-hour curfew was imposed on the city on 17 January 2010.http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5514254-146/plateau_governor_invokes_24_hour_curfew.csp Plateau governor invokes 24-hour curfew 19 January 2010 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20100122225723/http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5514254-146/plateau_governor_invokes_24_hour_curfew.csp 22 January 2010 On 19 January, the violence spread to smaller towns and villages south of Jos. Armed mobs, mostly Christians from the Berom ethnic group, attacked Muslims, including Hausa-Fulani residents, killing or driving them out and burning their homes, mosques, and property. The worst massacre took place on 19 January in the settlement of Kuru Karama, where 174 people, including 36 women and 56 children, were killed. Satellite images released by Human Rights Watch show the near complete destruction of buildings in Kuru Karama.Human Rights Watch Nigeria: Turning Blind Eye to Mass Killings http://mm.hrw.org/content/nigeria-turning-blind-eye-mass-killings-0 6 May 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150518083806/http://mm.hrw.org/content/nigeria-turning-blind-eye-mass-killings-0 18 May 2015 dead The BBC reported the fighting had spread to Pankshin, 100 km from Jos. These reports have been denied by the Army.https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8469863.stm Nigeria riot city under control, says army chief 20 January 2010 London BBC News 20 January 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100121025406/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8469863.stm 21 January 2010 live On 20 January, Vice-president Goodluck Jonathan ordered troops to Plateau State to restore order.http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5514478-146/jonathan_orders_troops_to_jos_amidst.csp Jonathan orders troops to Jos religious crisis 19 January 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100122225939/http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5514478-146/jonathan_orders_troops_to_jos_amidst.csp 22 January 2010 dead Vice-president Jonathan held executive authority at the time, as President Umaru Yar'Adua was in Saudi Arabia receiving medical treatment.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article6978589.ece https://web.archive.org/web/20101031194343/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article6978589.ece dead 31 October 2010 Prove you are alive: clamour for missing Nigerian leader to show his face Tristan McConnell Times (UK) 7 January 2010 London 19 January 2010 The state police command said 326 people died in the January violence.http://nigerianbulletin.com/summary-plus-news/we-know-culprits-of-jos-crisis-say-police-the-guardian/26012010/12681/ https://archive.today/20120713142331/http://nigerianbulletin.com/summary-plus-news/we-know-culprits-of-jos-crisis-say-police-the-guardian/26012010/12681/ dead 13 July 2012 We know culprits of Jos crisis, say police – The Guardian Awolusi Bunmi 26 January 2010 Nigerian Bulletin 26 January 2010 Community leaders put the figure at 1,025 dead. More than 5,000 people were displaced.2010-01-18 NIGERIA: Thousands displaced in Jos riots - Nigeria ReliefWeb https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nigeria-thousands-displaced-jos-riots 2026-06-04 reliefweb.int en March Before dawn on 7 March 2010, Muslim Hausa-Fulani herders massacred more than one hundred Christians in Dogo-Nahawa village near Jos. Residents in the village were mainly Berom Christians. The attacks went on for four hours, and nearby villages were also targeted.http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/03/07/jos-boils-again/ Lagos, Nigeria Jos boils again Obateru Taye Eyoboka, Sam Salem, Tordue 7 March 2010 8 March 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100310064559/http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/03/07/jos-boils-again/ 10 March 2010 live Vanguard The attackers fired guns to cause panic and as people fled chopped them with machetes.https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8554304.stm Central Nigeria clashes lead to 'scores of deaths' 7 March 2010 7 March 2010 BBC News https://web.archive.org/web/20100309030602/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8554304.stm 9 March 2010 live They set alight many of the buildingshttp://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/03/07/nigeria.violence/ Officials: Attack on Nigerian town kills more than 100 7 March 2010 7 March 2010 CNN https://web.archive.org/web/20100312143445/http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/03/07/nigeria.violence/ 12 March 2010 live and left corpses dumped in the streets. Many of the dead were women and children, including an infant less than three months of age.Adam Nossiter https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/world/africa/08nigeria.html Clashes Kill Dozens in Central Nigeria 7 March 2010 7 March 2010 The New York Times https://web.archive.org/web/20100312164803/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/world/africa/08nigeria.html 12 March 2010 live The state police command reported that 109 people died in the attack, including at least 38 children.Ahmed Mohammed Mahmud Lalo Jos – Police, Govt Disagree Over Casualty Figures http://allafrica.com/stories/201003110389.html 6 May 2015 Daily Trust 11 March 2010 A state official told journalists that more than 500 people were killed,https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8555018.stm Nigeria religious clashes 'kill 500' near Jos BBC 8 March 2010 8 March 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100309053420/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8555018.stm 9 March 2010 live while a plaque at a mass grave in Dogo-Nahawa states that 501 died in the massacre, and lists the names of 354 victims. Other community leaders put the death toll at 164, including 34 women and 98 children. Causes The clashes have often been characterised as "religious violence." The Plateau State Christian Elders Consultative Forum, for example, referred to the March 2010 attack in Dogo-Nahawa as "yet another jihad and provocation" while Muslims community regards the clash as an effort to eradicate Muslim inhabitant in a mission for religious profiling. Many others, however, cite ethnic differences and social and economic issues as the root of the violence. The Anglican Archbishop of Jos, Benjamin A. Kwashi, for example, noted that, "What seems to be a recurring decimal is that over time, those who have in the past used violence to settle political issues, economic issues, social matters, intertribal disagreements, or any issue for that matter, now continue to use that same path of violence and cover it up with religion."http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/januaryweb-only/14-21.0.html In Jos We Are Coming Face to Face in Confrontation with Satan Kwashi Benjamin 8 March 2010 8 March 2010 Christianity Today https://web.archive.org/web/20100129174434/http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/januaryweb-only/14-21.0.html 29 January 2010 live Professor Kabiru Mato of the University of Abuja also played down the role of religion in the riots: "I don't see anything religious. Wherein religion could be the difference between the two warring factions, fundamentally it's a manifestation of economic alienation. So social apathy, political frustration, economic deprivation and so many factors are responsible."https://www.voanews.com/a/butty-nigeria-violence-analysis-20jan10-82131892/152914.html Nigerian Professor Says Latest Jos Violence a Result of Many Factors Butty James 19 January 2010 Voice of America News 20 January 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100121071427/http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/africa/butty-nigeria-violence-analysis-20jan10-82131892.html 21 January 2010 live But this view has been challenged by the fact that places of worship, such as churches and mosques, have always been targeted during these riots. So religion has been used as a galvanising force in the crisis no matter what the initial cause of conflict.Calvin University https://worship.calvin.edu/resources/resource-library/overview-of-five-challenges-facing-lead-worshipers-in-new-and-emerging-churches 4 May 2021 worship.calvin.edu en An ethnic rivalry between the Hausa and Berom peoples is also cited as a factor in the violence.https://www.ft.com/content/5ca75160-0a19-11df-8b23-00144feabdc0 Ethnic rivalries fuel Nigeria violence Burgis Tom 26 January 2010 Financial Times 26 January 2010 Jos 13 June 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140613085957/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5ca75160-0a19-11df-8b23-00144feabdc0.html dead The Catholic archbishop in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, referred to the violence as "a classic conflict between pastoralists and farmers, except that all the Fulani are Muslims and all the Berom are Christians." However, this assertion is challenged by the fact that most ethnic groups in Plateau State, which are predominantly Christian, share the same sentiments with the Berom and collectively see an Islamic threat in their own lands.https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/12/12/leave-everything-god/accountability-inter-communal-violence-plateau-and-kaduna "Leave Everything to God" Accountability for Inter-Communal Violence in Plateau and Kaduna States, Nigeria 12 December 2013 Human Rights Watch en 30 January 2020 "The Beroms have been accused of resenting the economic progress of other settler groups: yet, this is another simplistic assertion. Most Plateau natives collectively feel they do not have the Federal connections or patronage other major ethnic groups have. And most Nigerian wealth has been driven by oil money. The Beroms and other Plateau natives are predominantly farmers and have had to experience their lands taken away and degraded by tin mining. Now, they have to contend with migrant groups who use Federal influence and wealth to displace them from their own lands. The massive structure of the Federal Government is fuelled primarily by oil money. The Beroms, as well as other Plateau natives, feel they should have a measure of autonomy in their core lands just the way Native Americans in their homesteads are treated as a Sovereign nation, elevated to the status of a protected minority. Nigeria's constitution has no place for respecting the rights of minorities, whether it is Jos, or the Niger Delta."Native American Cultures Across the U.S. https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/native-american-cultures-across-us 4 May 2021 NEH-Edsitement en The Economist, 11 March 2010 article "Another massacre in Nigeria: An unending cycle." Discrimination against the mainly Muslim "settlers" of Jos is also cited as an issue. While the mainly Christian indigenous population are classified as "indigenes," the mainly Muslim immigrants to Jos, many of them Hausa-Fulani, are classified as "settlers," even if they have been living in the city for decades, and find it difficult to secure government jobs or educational scholarships, among other things.https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8564884.stm BBC News No end to Nigeria cycle of violence 12 March 2010 Caroline Duffield 12 March 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100318032744/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8564884.stm 18 March 2010 live Human Rights Watch "They Do Not Own This Place": Government Discrimination Against "Non-Indigenes" in Nigeria April 2006 https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/nigeria0406webwcover.pdf 5 May 2015 This has further accentuated divisions in and around the city. Response The Vatican expressed outrage and sadness at the riots. Pope Benedict XVI said the attacks were "atrocious" and "violence does not resolve conflicts but only increases the tragic consequences."http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/World/Story/STIStory_500624.html Pope denounces Nigeria clashes 11 March 2010 11 March 2010 Straits Times Singapore https://web.archive.org/web/20100315143527/http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/World/Story/STIStory_500624.html 15 March 2010 live Vice President Jonathan, who was the acting president at the time, urged that the killers be caught.http://www.france24.com/en/20100307-acting-president-jonathan-goodluck-jos-dogo-nahawa-nigeria-sectarian-violence Acting president orders 'roving band of killers' to be apprehended 7 March 2010 7 March 2010 France 24 https://web.archive.org/web/20100410133137/http://www.france24.com/en/20100307-acting-president-jonathan-goodluck-jos-dogo-nahawa-nigeria-sectarian-violence 10 April 2010 dead The police announced that 313 people were arrested in relation to the January 2010 violence, while 200 people were arrested following the March 2010 violence. As of 2013, federal prosecutors had secured convictions of at least 129 people involved in the 2010 violence. The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project wrote to the International Criminal Court, asking them to investigate the riots for potential crimes against humanity. The ICC prosecutor replied in November 2010 stating that the situation was being analysed by the prosecutor to see if a case should be opened.ICC is Analysing Jos Crisis, Says Prosecutor, Daily Trust, 8 November 2010 See also Nigeria 2001 Jos riots 2008 Jos riots History of Nigeria Religious violence 2011 Alexandria bombing References 30em External links Higazi, Adam, The Jos Crisis: A Recurrent Nigerian Tragedy Discussion Paper No. 2, January 2011, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Human Rights Watch (2013), "Leave Everything to God": Accountability for Inter-Communal Violence in Plateau and Kaduna States, Nigeria https://web.archive.org/web/20150421165010/http://www.hrw.org/reports/2013/12/12/leave-everything-god-0 21 April 2015 Category:Massacres in 2010 Category:2010 murders in Nigeria Category:2010 riots Riots, 2010 Category:Religious riots in Nigeria Category:Ethnic riots Category:January 2010 in Nigeria Category:January 2010 crimes in Africa Category:2010s massacres in Nigeria Category:Massacres of Christians in the 2010s Category:Massacres of Muslims in the 2010s Category:2010s political riots Category:2010 in Christianity Category:2010 in Islam Category:Attacks on churches in Nigeria Category:Attacks on mosques in Nigeria Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in 2010 Category:Arson in Nigeria Category:Arson in 2010 Category:2010s fires in Africa Category:21st century in Jos Category:March 2010 in Nigeria Category:March 2010 crimes in Africa Category:Racially motivated violence in Africa Category:Massacres of ethnic groups Category:Attacks on mosques in the 2010s Category:Mosque arson Category:Church arson in Africa Category:Arson attacks on vehicles in Africa